


Survival Is A Habit

by HelloWhyTheFuckAmIHere



Series: Shut Up and Help Us [2]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Abduction, Alive Allison Argent, Alive Claudia Stilinski, Alive Hale Family, Alive Laura Hale, Alive Talia Hale, Alive Vernon Boyd & Erica Reyes, Alpha Derek, Alpha Scott, Alpha Talia Hale, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, BAMF Stiles, Derek Feels, Derek Hale Deserves Nice Things, Emissary Stiles Stilinski, Established Relationship, F/M, Fix-It, Fluff, Full Shift Werewolves, Hale Family Feels, Kid Fic, Kidnapped Isaac, Kidnapped Stiles, Kidnapping, M/M, Minor Allison Argent/Scott McCall, Minor Isaac Lahey/Original Male Character, Minor Laura Hale/Original Male Character, Minor Lydia Martin/Jackson Whittemore/Cora Hale, Minor Peter Hale/Original Male Character, Minor Sheriff Stilinski/Claudia Stilinski - Freeform, Minor Vernon Boyd/Erica Reyes, Multi, Panic Attacks, Spark Stiles Stilinski, Torture, Werewolf Conferences & Conventions, Werewolf Mates, post season 3B
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-07
Updated: 2017-10-11
Packaged: 2018-12-12 10:40:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 43,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11735367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HelloWhyTheFuckAmIHere/pseuds/HelloWhyTheFuckAmIHere
Summary: Nearly a year after the Hale pack defeated their first real threat, Talia gets a call inviting them to attend the Triennial Pack Convention.They gladly accept, hoping to use the TPC as one last celebration before the younger members go off to college.  But when a series of events puts the pack at risk, they find themselves in desperate need of allies.





	1. No, Stiles

“No, Stiles.”

Stiles pinched the bridge of his nose and huffed into the phone. “Now, Derek, we’ve talked about this. You need to enunciate better, because that sounded a lot like ‘No,’ when I’m confident that what you really said was – ,”

“I said no. We are not adopting a kitten you found in an alleyway.” Derek’s voice was firm as he sighed into the receiver.

Stiles pouted. “But Der, someone just left her there. Who leaves a kitten in a box next to a dumpster like trash?” He picked up a metal surgical instrument and dropped it with a clang when he saw Deaton raise his eyebrow impatiently at him.

“What was that noise? Stiles, where are you guys?” 

Stiles looked around and held his finger up to his lips at Ana. Ana mimed zipping her lips shut and giggled quietly from her perch on the metal table in the middle of the room. She was petting the kitten softly while Deaton gave her a check up.

He cleared his throat. “Who?” He asked innocently. “Me and Ana? We’re at the grocery store like we’re supposed to be. Where else would we be?”

Stiles could almost hear Derek rolling his eyes. “You’re at the vet’s office, aren’t you? Come on, Stiles, don’t let Ana get attached to this cat.”

“It’s a kitten,” Stiles corrected grumpily. 

“We don’t have any of the supplies necessary to take care of a ca – kitten,” he caught himself quickly. “And besides, cats don’t tend to like werewolves.”

Stiles sighed, about to give up, when inspiration struck him suddenly. “That really is a shame, Der. Ana wanted to name her after Jackson.”

There was a moment of silence before – “I’ll go get the supplies, don’t tell Jackson until I get home. I want to see his face,” Derek said quickly before hanging up the phone and rushing out the door.

Stiles laughed to himself and high fived a delighted Ana. Deaton finished his exam and determined that the kitten was in perfect health. 

Derek must really have been excited to see Jackson’s reaction upon hearing the female cat would share his name, because he beat Stiles and Ana back to the house with all of the supplies.

“She’s cute, isn’t she?” Stiles asked Derek, bringing the jet black kitten over to where the man was now standing in the living room. Derek scooped Ana up from where she stood next to Stiles and peppered her face with kisses before putting her down and focusing his attention on the kitten in Stiles’ arms.

Derek shrugged unconvincingly. “She’s ok.”

Ana shook her head adamantly. “No, Papa, she’s perfect!”

The wolf melted. Derek smiled involuntarily and agreed without any further provocation. “Yeah, you’re right. She’s perfect.”

He greeted Stiles properly with a peck on the lips, and went out the door to unload the groceries Stiles and Ana had picked up before they’d found the abandoned animal.

“Did you and Allison send in your housing forms?” Derek called from the kitchen, where he had started to unload the bags.

Stiles sat down on one of the barstools at the kitchen island, watching Ana play with cat Jackson on the floor of the living room. “Yeah, we finalized them yesterday.”

Derek hummed and raised an eyebrow at Stiles. “And you’re sure you don’t want to just live here?”

“Der,” Stiles whined. “We’ve talked about this. Berkeley’s only 45 minutes away. Allison and I will be back every weekend, and if you or the pack need us, we can be home within an hour.”

“Yeah, I know,” Derek pouted, rounding the island and wrapping his arms around Stiles’ shoulders from behind. He nuzzled into Stiles’ neck, delighting in the happy scent his mate was giving off.

They separated when the door opened, revealing Jackson, Peter, and Dom. 

“Jackson!” Derek said excitedly, straightening up and striding over towards his beta. He bent down and tweaked Ana’s nose, picking up the kitten as he stood back up to full height. “There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

He thrust the kitten into Jackson’s arms, barely hiding his delight at the wolf’s confusion.

“This is Jackson,” Derek proclaimed with a grin.

Jackson squinted at his Alpha suspiciously. “Ok…” He looked down and started petting the kitten, scratching it behind the ears at it purred. “He’s kinda cute.”

“Yes,” agreed Derek delightedly. “She is.”

Jackson looked up at Derek with murder in his eyes. He shoved the kitten into Dom’s hands and took off after Derek, who had run off through the still-open front door, laughing hysterically.

Stiles shook his head, chuckling fondly at his wolves. “Any luck finding a wedding venue?” He asked Dom and Peter.

Dom sat on the floor with Ana and put cat Jackson on the floor between them. “Nope. Lydia’s tutoring session ran long so she sent Jackson in her stead and no offense to him, but he’s kind of a horrible wedding planner proxy.”

“I heard that!” Called Jackson from somewhere outside.

Peter rolled his eyes and went into the kitchen to help Stiles finish putting the groceries away. 

Talia arrived home from work shortly after Jackson and Derek had returned from their sparring match outside. It wasn’t much of a match up, but Derek was laughing too hard to put up that big of a fight.

Peter joined Dom and Ana on the floor to play with cat Jackson, while Talia caught them all up on a call she had just received. 

“Peter, do you remember my old friend Marcy?” 

He thought about it for a minute before nodding. “She was a part of that small pack in Idaho. The Davis pack.”

Talia nodded. “Well, she called me today to let me know that we have been invited to the TPC.”

Peter raised his eyebrows in surprise. “That’s still around?”

“What’s the TPC?” Asked Stiles. 

“The Triennial Pack Convention,” replied Talia. “As the name states, they hold one every three years. Any and all packs are welcome, but a few larger packs get a call from one of the hosts to extend a formal invitation. Apparently this year we qualify.”

Stiles hummed in thought. “Sounds like it could be fun. When is it?”

“Next month. Everyone will be out of school by then, so it might be a good opportunity for us to meet some other packs and celebrate everyone’s graduation.” 

Stiles stood up from the floor and started pulling out ingredients for dinner. “Might be a good place to gain some allies as well,” he offered absentmindedly from inside the pantry.

Talia smiled at him proudly before turning her attention to the newest feline addition to the pack.

At dinner that night, the pack debated who would represent them at the convention, and who would stay behind to guard the territory. 

“It would be considered a great insult if the Alpha or Alphas of an invited pack did not attend,” Talia pointed out.

Derek frowned. “Well, then someone’s going to need to stay behind with Ana. I don’t want her around so many people we don’t know.”

Stiles nodded. “I agree. Someone will also need to stay behind and watch cat Jackson.”

“Maybe wolf Jackson?” Isaac suggested with a straight face.

Jackson snarled. “’Wolf Jackson?’ No. No, absolutely not.”

Cora snickered behind her hand before schooling her face. “Well how else are we going to tell you two apart?”

“We are NOT calling me wolf Jackson. I’m regular Jackson, the cat is cat Jackson,” he demanded with finality.

Erica held up her hands in surrender. “Fine, fine. Hey, regular Jackson, can you pass me the salt?”

He was up and out of his chair before Erica had finished her question. The two ran around the room twice before Erica made a break for the front door. 

The rest of the pack laughed and immediately started placing bets on who would win the inevitable fight between the two betas.

“Well,” said Talia with laughter in her voice. “I guess we’ll hold off on discussing the convention until later. In the meantime, Peter, Dom, why don’t you tell everyone about the wedding venues you visited today?”


	2. A lot higher

After Dom, who had gotten a job as a history teacher at Beacon Hills Middle School, and Wallace, who was working at the Beacon Hills Elementary School library, took Ana off to school, Stiles sat down with the Alphas to discuss the logistics of the convention.

“Alrighty,” said Stiles as he sat down at the kitchen table, clutching his coffee like a lifeline. “Scott and I have about 20 minutes before we have to meet the others at school.”

Talia nodded in acknowledgement. “We’ll make this quick then. So, we have already established that the four of us will be going to the convention, yes?”

The other three at the table nodded. “I think we should leave at least one second behind to guard the territory,” suggested Derek.

Scott put down his coffee mug and licked his lips. “I agree. I think it should be Laura. If anything were to happen to the four of us, she’d be most qualified to lead the pack.”

Stiles scribbled down a list of Stay and Go on his notepad. He placed himself and the Alphas under Go and Laura under Stay. “Anyone else? I don’t think my parents or Melissa will be able to get off work for that long, so they’ll probably stay,” he muttered to himself while he wrote down their names.

“Peter will want to attend,” offered Derek quietly. “And he’ll know a lot of the people there, so he’ll be helpful to have around when it comes to making allies.”

Talia smiled softly. “I agree. Dom will come as well, then. There’s no separating those two, especially not so close to the wedding.”

Stiles added them to the Go list. “So if Laura is the second staying behind, will Lydia and Isaac both come with us?”

Derek and Scott looked at each other for confirmation and nodded.

“The younger betas will want to attend as well,” remarked Talia. “Cora, Jackson, Erica, Boyd, Malia, and Kira.”

“Ok,” mumbled Stiles as he scribbled down their names. “That makes fourteen. Do – hmm.” He stopped talking and looked up.

Talia raised her eyebrows in an invitation for him to keep talking. “What is it, Stiles?”

Stiles bit his lip uncertainly. “Do we want one of the Argents to come?”

The four sat back in their chairs silently contemplating the question. 

Eventually, Talia sighed. “They are a part of our pack. It may rub some people the wrong way to hear that an Argent is attending the convention, but we trust them. And any pack who wishes to make an alliance with us should know that they are also making an alliance with Allison and Chris.”

“We’ll talk to them this afternoon, then,” said Stiles. “See which one would prefer to attend.”

“Excellent,” replied Talia, rising to her feet. 

The others followed her lead and stood as well. Derek walked Stiles and Scott to the door, grabbing Stiles’ keys off the side table by the front entrance. “Scott, are you taking the jeep to the animal clinic right after school?”

Scott nodded, fighting with his backpack straps.

“Ok,” whispered Derek, leaning in to press a soft kiss to Stiles’ lips. “Ana and I will pick you up at 3.”

Stiles just smiled and turned to follow Scott out the door. When he reached the porch steps he stopped short. “Oh, forgot something,” he muttered to himself.

Derek stood in the doorway, frowning in confusion. Stiles grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him in for a longer, filthier kiss. Derek chuckled and responded with enthusiasm, chasing Stiles’ lips when he started to pull away with a grin.

Stiles winked and turned back around, jogging to the car where Scott stood rolling his eyes.

“You guys are so in love, it’s gross,” whined the wolfy as he jumped in the passenger seat of the jeep.

Stiles scoffed. “Says the guy who once wrote a poem about his girlfriend’s palms.”

“Stiles, you don’t understand. They’re so soft,” Scott said dreamily, staring off into space with a dopey grin on his face.

The jeep roared to life. “I do understand. You made me read the whole thing,” Stiles responded with a fond eye roll of his own. 

School passed by quickly. Stiles had found the rest of the pack before classes started to let them know they would all be attending the conference. 

There were excited hugs and whoops of joy all around that earned them annoyed glares from their classmates, but no one paid them any mind. 

After school, Stiles ventured out to the parking lot and looked around for the Camero. Before he could find it, he saw movement out of the corner of his eye and turned his head just in time to see a small Ana-shaped blur running at his legs. 

He bent down and scooped her up just as she made it to him. “Well, hello there! How was school, sweetie?” He asked as he put her back down.

Ana looked up at him through her eyelashes and began to excitedly recount every second of her day. Derek wandered over at a more sedate pace and took Ana’s hand after greeting Stiles with a brief kiss on the cheek.

The three of them ventured back to the car. When they were settled in and Ana was distracted from her story by her stuffed wolf, Isaac, Stiles reached over and linked his fingers with Derek’s.

“Did you tell her about the convention?” Stiles asked Derek.

Derek nodded. “Hmm, maybe she can help us figure out if Allison or Chris should go.”

“She adores Allison, so you know she’ll want her to stay.”

Derek squinted at him. “I don’t know about that. Every time one of us takes her to the park, she asks if Uncle Chris is going.”

Stiles chuckled. “Ok, ten bucks says she’ll want Allison to stay with her.”

“Deal. Hey, munchkin?” Derek looked in his rearview mirror to make sure Ana was paying attention.

“Yeah, Papa?” She continued playing with Isaac, but her eyes met her father’s in the mirror.

“Who would you rather have stay home with you during the conference, Allison or Chris?”

Ana furrowed her brows and thought about it for a second. “Uncle Chris,” she decided with a firm nod.

“What?” Stiles spluttered in outrage. 

Derek just smirked and held out a hand expectantly. Stiles grumpily reached into his pocket and slapped the money into his boyfriend’s palm. 

Allison and Chris laughed when Derek told them how it had been decided which of them would attend the convention, and agreed that Allison would go with them.

“Why did you pick Chris?” Derek asked Ana when she joined the three of them in the living room. 

“Cause he pushes me the fastest on the swings,” she replied as if the answer was obvious. “I go a lot higher than when you do it, Papa.”

“Oh yeah?” Derek replied, tilting his head and locking eyes with Chris. “A lot higher?”

Chris just raised his hands and eyebrows innocently, trying hard not to smile, until Ana pulled Derek over towards one of the couches so they could color together.

For some reason, cat Jackson adored Malia. No amount of growling or eye flashing would get her off of Malia’s lap, and she had taken to following Malia around the house.

“Why can’t I just eat it? It’s annoying,” Malia asked Kira with a shrug.

Kira just smiled and patted her knee consolingly.

“Because we love her, and it’s our responsibility to take care of her,” Stiles answered patiently from across the room without looking up from his textbook. 

The three of them and Isaac were holed up in an upstairs office doing homework. Malia had been sitting on the floor until they were joined by the curious kitten, who had made a beeline for the werecoyote. 

Malia had growled under her breath and moved to sit next to Kira on the couch, but Jackson was not deterred by the change in elevation. She meowed pitifully until Kira picked her up with an apologetic glance towards Malia. 

Jackson jumped across Kira’s lap and settled into the small space between Malia’s leg and the arm of the couch.

Isaac’s ears perked up and he tilted his head towards the open office door. “I’ll tell him,” he said at normal volume in reply to whatever he had heard. “Stiles, it’s your turn for hand-to-hand with Chris.”

Stiles finished his paragraph and shut his textbook with a sigh. He looked up at the werewolf, werecoyote, and kitsune all doing their homework in silence and chuckled gratefully to himself as he thought about just how different his life was than he thought it would be when he was growing up.


	3. A bad feeling

The Saturday before graduation found the pack scattered across the country. Talia had insisted that the pack members who were going away to college live in their own space, rather than in the dorms. This was mostly a safety precaution, since being away from the pack can make a beta less stable during the full moons until they get used to it.

Lydia, Jackson, and Cora had all chosen schools in the Boston area. With Lydia at MIT, Jackson at Boston College, and Cora at Northeastern University, they could all share an apartment, and it would make the full moons easier for Jackson and Cora since they would be around pack. The three of them had decided to look for apartments in person, so they were taking a long weekend trip to Massachusetts. 

Malia and Kira had both decided to attend the University of Washington in Seattle, so they could be closer to the Yukimura’s and their friends who had helped the two learn control. They had taken a trip up with Keith, who had decided to join the two for at least the first year. Keith was fascinated by kitsunes, so when Noshiko offered to let him stay with them, he couldn’t say no. 

Isaac, Boyd, Erica, and Scott had all decided to stay local; the first three planned to attend Beacon Hills Community College, and Scott had decided to accept a spot in the Veterinary Medicine program at UC Davis (he suspected the glowing recommendation from Deaton didn’t hurt, since his grades weren’t the best his Sophomore year).

Scott had already toured UC Davis, so he hitched a ride with Allison to Berkeley. She and Stiles had already signed their apartment lease, but Allison wanted to get used to the surrounding area before they moved in.

Peter had gotten a job as a professor of Literature at BHCC, so he volunteered to take Isaac, Boyd, and Erica on a more specialized tour of the campus.

Stiles could tell that Derek was anxious with the pack being so spread out, so he arranged for Derek and Chris to take Ana to the playground together. He knew that once Derek got Ana on the swings, he would get so caught up in competing with Chris for best swing pusher, he would forget about his concerns. 

Grady had completed his deputy training and was attempting his first double shift as a rookie in the Beacon Hills Police Department. Laura was off for the day, but she decided to stick around the station to help (read: hinder), along with John.

With Claudia and Melissa at work as well, and Wallace helping Dom pick out his wedding tuxedo, Stiles found himself alone at the Hale house with Talia.

Talia eyed Stiles in the armchair speculatively as she sat down on the couch across from him.

“What’s wrong?” She asked softly with a furrowed brow.

Stiles shook his head and brought his thoughts back to the present. “Nothing. Well, no, not nothing. I have this feeling.”

“A bad feeling?”

The sun chose this moment to hide behind the clouds, plunging the living room into a muted darkness. Stiles chose not to take the timing as a bad sign.

“No, just a feeling. Like I’m being watched?” Stiles looked out the window to the empty front yard. “I know I’m not, and none of the perimeter wards have been triggered, so there’s nothing supernaturally wrong.” He tore his gaze away from the window and focused instead on his hands wringing in his lap.

Talia frowned. “How long have you been felling like this, Stiles?”

“Just the last few days or so. I thought it was anxiety over all of us splitting up at the end of the summer, or maybe about the convention. But I don’t think that’s what it is.”

Talia considered him for a moment. She stood up and made them each a cup of tea. Stiles took his mug with a silent nod of thanks, but made no move to drink it.

“Have you spoken to Deaton about this? He does not have a spark, but he would be the best person to tell you if your feeling is Emissary related.” Talia took a sip of her tea without taking her eyes off of Stiles.

Stiles nodded. “Yeah, I called him yesterday, but he hasn’t gotten back to me. Scott has a shift at the clinic tomorrow when he gets back, so maybe I’ll tag along if I don’t hear from him before then.”

Talia looked like she wanted to say more, but stayed silent. Jackson jumped up onto her lap and purred herself to sleep, and that’s how the three of them stayed until Dom and Wallace returned. 

Chris and Derek came back from the park with Ana much earlier than anticipated. Stiles opened his mouth to ask why, but stopped after a discrete head shake from Derek. Derek nodded pointedly at Ana, indicating that he didn’t want to bring it up in front of her.

Stiles frowned and looked Ana over carefully. Since the girl appeared unharmed, and was humming happily while chasing cat Jackson around the kitchen, Stiles let it go.

Later, after Wallace had taken Ana outside to the archery range to practice with her beginner bow, Stiles cornered Derek in the library. “What was that all about? Is everything ok?”

Derek walked over to the doorway and peeked out to make sure Ana was out of the house before he answered. Talia, Dom, and Chris halted their conversation abruptly to listen to Derek’s answer.

“We had only been at the park for about half an hour when I started to feel like something was wrong.”

Talia and Stiles exchanged a worried, knowing glance. Talia took her phone out of her pocket, but made no move to call anyone just yet.

“Go on,” Stiles encouraged Derek.

Derek licked his lips and continued. “I didn’t notice anything suspicious, so I ignored the feeling.” He shook his head. “I should have swept the perimeter.”

“Did you figure out what caused the feeling?” Asked Talia with a frown.

“No, but it didn’t go away after another fifteen minutes, so I told Chris and we decided to leave early.”

Derek and Chris looked at each other warily. 

“That’s not all, is it?” Stiles asked, squinting suspiciously at the two of them.

“No,” offered Chris. “I suggested that we go by the Animal Clinic since it’s close to the park. I hadn’t thought to bring anything but my usual weapons with me, since Derek was going to be there. But I keep a stash of weapons with Deaton. So I figured if there was any danger, we could hole up in the clinic and we’d be armed at least.”

“Your tone’s getting a little ominous, there, Chris. What happened? What did Deaton say?” Stiles bit his lip, nervous to hear the answers.

Chris just shook his head. “That’s the strange part. Deaton wasn’t there.”

“The sign on the door was flipped to closed, and it smelled musty, like no one had been in there since Scott’s shift on Monday,” Derek added.

“But there were heartbeats inside, weren’t there? From the animals?” Talia cocked her head to the side in question.

“No, they hadn’t been sheltering any animals since the adoption drive two weeks ago. And their last injury was sent home on Monday,” said Stiles. “That’s why Scott hasn’t been in since then; Deaton told him there wasn’t really anything for him to be doing.”

Talia stepped out onto the front porch to make a phone call. The others stood in silence for a few moments.

“It’s possible Deaton just closed the shop since everything was relatively quiet,” Stiles suggested unconvincingly. 

Derek just shook his head. “When was the last time you saw him?”

Stiles thought back to the last week. “I think it was Monday morning. I stopped by the clinic on my way to school to return a book I’d borrowed from him.”

Chris pulled out his phone and sent off a quick text. Stiles heard his phone ding in his pocket, indicating that Chris had sent a message to the pack group text.

There were a few more dings, but Stiles let Chris fill them in as he read them in real time. 

“Nope, no one has seen or heard from him since Monday night,” he reported bleakly. “Peter’s going to cut his tour short and take Isaac, Erica, and Boyd over to Deaton’s house and see if he’s there.”

Talia walked back into the house from the porch with her mouth set in a grim line, obviously not having been successful at reaching Deaton.

The four of them found seats in the living room, waiting to hear back from Peter.

When Peter called Chris less than five minutes later to confirm that Deaton’s house was empty and his mailbox was full, they jumped out of their seats, splitting up and rising to action immediately. 

Talia called John to have him put out an APB on Deaton’s car, while Chris got in touch with Madeline, their contact in Liz’s coven in Nevada, to see if she could put the word out that their pack’s former Emissary was missing. 

Stiles called Scott to confirm what they knew, and had barely finished his first sentence before he heard the distinct sound of a car starting and two car doors closing.

Wallace phoned Keith, who promptly booked three tickets back from Seattle to Beacon Hills.

After getting off the phone with John, Talia called Cora to see how quickly she, Jackson, and Lydia could get back from Boston.

Within 12 hours, the pack was together again. They had a veterinarian to find.


	4. Graduation

One of life’s greatest indulgences is allowing yourself the luxury of waking up slowly. Your brain has not yet rediscovered the universe, but your ears hear birds chirping happily and your body feels the soft curve of your mattress and the warmth provided by your comforter. 

Nothing troubles you because your worries haven’t come forward from where they lay dormant in your mind while you sleep, and the constant weight pressing down on your chest hasn’t made itself known because it, like you, is clinging onto those last few moments of peace and quiet before it has to resume it’s melancholy duties.

Stiles smiled as his hand found a firm chest. All he felt for several seconds was the slow rise and fall of Derek’s torso as he breathed. Even when his mind was still asleep, Stiles knew he wanted to be closer to the warmth Derek was giving off. He knew it was safe to drape himself over the man and nuzzle his face into the bearded neck of the person sharing his bed.

But though Stiles’ eyes were still closed, his brilliant mind began to race, the events of the last few days catching up with him so quickly, his breath caught in his chest. 

This should have been a happy day. Graduation.

But Deaton was still missing, and neither Stiles nor Derek had been able to shake the feeling that they’re being watched. This was not a happy day.

Once Stiles’ mind was awake, he knew there was no way he could get back to sleep. Resigned to waking up before the sun, Stiles rose groggily and draped the covers back over Derek, hoping against all odds that the man could sleep for at least another hour. 

It was no surprise that Scott was already downstairs watching the coffee drip slowly into the pot. Stiles shook his head sadly and joined his best friend at the kitchen island, sitting next to him without saying a word. They silently watched the coffee drip for a few minutes before Scott tilted his head to the side. 

Stiles knew without asking that it was Derek who Scott was hearing walk around upstairs. Derek never could sleep once Stiles was awake.

Stiles sighed and made a cup of coffee for himself, Derek, and Scott. He put Derek’s next to the armchair, knowing Ana would be down shortly and would fall asleep on Derek’s lap for another twenty minutes or so.

Derek paused in the kitchen to wrap his arms around Stiles waist, gripping him tightly from behind once before letting go. He paused again at Scott and placed his hand lightly on his fellow Alpha’s shoulder. Scott spared him a sad attempt at a smile before staring into his coffee cup as if it knew the answers to all of his questions.

It wasn’t long before they were joined by a groggy Ana, who padded over to Derek immediately, and the rest of the pack. 

Lydia was the last to descend the stairs onto the main floor. She took one look at her silent, dejected pack and sighed heavily. 

“Oh, no.” She proclaimed so loudly it jolted Ana awake. “This is not how today is going to go.”

“Lydia –,” Malia whined, already putting her head back onto her folded arms where she was slumped over the kitchen table. Erica’s position mirrored Malia’s, but she hadn’t even looked up when Lydia had spoken.

“No,” Lydia said again. “Look, I know we’re all worried about Deaton. But Laura, Grady, Keith, Peter, and Dom are all on it. We’ve been looking for him for three days straight, and today’s our graduation day.”

She paused and looked around at her pack again. A few of the younger members seemed at least somewhat interested in what she was saying, so she soldiered on.

“We survived high school, we need to celebrate that.”

Erica raised her hand but not her head. “Well, technically we didn’t all survive high sc -,”

“None of that, Reyes,” Lydia cut her off abruptly. “Ladies, we’ll be getting ready here. Boys, your suits are waiting for you at the Stilinski’s.”

Once everyone was at least looking her way, Lydia cocked one eyebrow at them. “Go.”

Stiles chuckled as Isaac and Jackson shot out of their chairs. Boyd and Scott followed at a more sedate pace. Stiles stood and kissed Derek goodbye, leaving the once again sleeping Ana with a kiss on the forehead.

Since all they had to do was put on the tuxes half an hour before they were about to leave, the boys settled into comfortable seats in the living room and popped in a movie once they got to Stiles’ house. 

At one point, Scott whined softly, so Isaac and Boyd curled themselves around their Alpha and Jackson moved so he was sitting at Scott’s feet with his weight against his legs. 

Stiles left to make some breakfast for his wolves, and settled in next to Jackson on the floor once it had been devoured.

The day passed by like that; the boys only got up to go to the bathroom or to put in another movie. When Lydia called Jackson with a one hour warning, they all begrudgingly started to get themselves ready.

Scott had drained his battery checking his phone every five seconds for news on Deaton. So when he went upstairs for a quick shower, Stiles unplugged his own phone and plugged Scott’s in. 

Stiles glanced down after the exchange and saw that he had a missed text message. He opened it and couldn’t help but smile at the picture Derek had sent him.

Apparently, Derek and Wallace had grown tired of the primping the girls were doing, so they had taken Ana on a walk to the park. 

The pack piled into cars and drove to the high school in varying degrees of silence. By the time everyone was milling around the parking lot, most of them had smiles on their faces.

Stiles was almost too caught up in the excitement to notice Scott and Derek talking by the jeep. He knew he couldn’t sneak up on them, but they both seemed to be too caught up in their conversation to pay him any mind.

Derek placed his hand on Scott’s shoulder bracingly. “We’re going to find him, Scott. And when we do, he’s going to be really proud of you.”

Scott hung his head miserably. “I knew my dad wasn’t going to be here. I just kind of hoped Deaton would be able to see me graduate.” He shook his head and looked away. “It’s stupid.”

Derek tightened his grip on Scott’s shoulder. “It’s not stupid. And I’m going to record the whole ceremony so he can watch it when we get him back.”

Scott’s eyes shot up to meet Derek’s. He sniffled and launched himself at the man, throwing his arms around his neck. Derek reciprocated the hug with a smile.

When they separated, Scott chuckled self deprecatingly. “Thanks, Derek,” he whispered, walking away to find Allison.

Stiles approached Derek slowly, wrapping his arms around his waist from behind once he had reached the wolf. “Thank you,” Stiles whispered into Derek’s shoulder blade. He pressed a kiss to the spot and let go, taking Derek’s hand and walking towards the gym entrance where the rest of the pack had started filing into the school.

The graduation speeches were slow and painful (except for Lydia’s, of course), but soon it was all over and Stiles was throwing his cap above his head with glee.

The newly-graduated members of the pack hooted and hollered as they tried to retrieve their caps and find their family members in the bleachers.

Stiles jumped into Derek’s arms and laughed as he was spun around a few times. He swooped down and scooped up Ana, beaming when the little girl laughed in delight.

He should have known the moment was too good to be true. As he made his way around to the rest of the pack, exchanging hugs and grins, Stiles caught sight of Chris frowning down at his ringing phone.

“Madeline?” He answered with furrowed brows. There was a moment when the air went cold, and Stiles knew the rest of the pack had suddenly caught on to Chris’ tone.

He felt Talia go still next to him as she listened to what Madeline was saying on the other end of the line. 

Chris hung up after a few more moments. 

“What is it?” Stiles asked, looking around at the wolves, whose faces all betrayed assorted degrees of rage.

“It’s Alyssa,” Chris replied somberly. “She’s escaped.”


	5. Those are lethal

The pack raced back to the Hale house to regroup and come up with a plan. 

Talia, Scott, and Derek decided it would be best to send at least two pack members to the prison in Nevada to get more information firsthand. 

After much deliberation, they decided to send Chris and Wallace.

“Do we think this has anything to do with Deaton’s disappearance?” Stiles asked the room once the two were gone.

Talia frowned. “Last we heard, Peter said they were following a lead in Oregon. Derek, can you call them for an update?”

Derek nodded and strode purposefully out the back door to the porch.

John stepped forward from where he had been standing in the living room. “Why don’t Claudia and I take Ana for the night? You guys have your hands full here.” 

He turned his head to look out the kitchen window, catching Derek’s eye while the wolf was on the phone. Derek nodded at the Sheriff, who returned the nod and walked over to Ana.

“Hey, peanut, how do you feel about staying with me and Miss Claudia tonight?”

Ana smiled and nodded. “Ok. Can Erica come too?” She looked back and forth between John and Claudia with wide, innocent eyes.

Claudia grinned and rolled her eyes with a laugh. “Of course she can. Everyone knows she builds the best pillow forts.”

Erica ducked her head shyly for a second before jumping out of her chair. She turned around in front of Ana and squatted down so the little girl could climb onto her back. “Let’s go, jelly bean. We gotta pack up some stuff for our sleepover!”

Ana giggled and jumped onto Erica’s back, throwing her hands tightly around her shoulders. 

Derek returned from his call only moments after Erica and Ana disappeared up the stairs. 

Stiles looked around at the wolves in the room and saw that they were all frowning. He cocked his head in Derek’s direction. “What’s wrong?”

Derek sighed. “Their lead in Oregon didn’t pan out, but they heard a rumor about someone traveling with an emissary across the Nevada border. They’re headed there now to check it out.”

“Nevada?” Repeated Stiles. “As in, where Alyssa just escaped the supernatural prison that was supposed to hold her for the rest of her life?”

“The two have to be connected,” said Scott grimly. “We were the only people other than the coven who knew about Alyssa being held there. Even the hunters who run the prison didn’t know her real name.”

Allison sat down next to Scott on the couch and grabbed his hand. “Scott, at least we know he was alive as of… this morning?” She looked up to Derek for confirmation. After he nodded, Allison sighed and rested her head on Scott’s shoulder.

Scott scoffed. “Yeah, alive and being tortured. He never would have volunteered that information.”

Stiles shook his head. “We don’t know he’s being tortured. You know as well as I do that there are a lot of ways to get people to give up information they normally wouldn’t.”

Scott closed his eyes and leaned into Allison. The rest of the pack was quiet until Erica and Ana returned from upstairs.

Ana ran over to Derek, who picked her up without missing a beat. “You be good for John and Claudia tonight, ok, munchkin?” 

Ana nodded and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Ok, Papa.”

Derek set her down. “Go get Isaac. I love you.”

“Love you too!” She called as she sprinted over to Isaac on the loveseat, running into his legs in her haste. “Come on, Isaac.” She pulled on his hand until he stood up.

Derek chuckled. “No, I meant your stuffed wolf Isaac. Not your uncle wolf Isaac.”

Ana looked up at Isaac with sad puppy dog eyes. “Isaac doesn’t want to come with us?”

Isaac turned his head without looking away from Ana’s eyes. “Oh my god, those are lethal. Derek, what do I do? Someone help me.”

Erica just rolled her eyes and took Isaacs other hand. “You’re coming with us, let’s go.”

Ana whooped and helped Erica lead Isaac out the door after John and Claudia, who were both grinning and shaking their heads.

Melissa left to take Scott and Allison, who was staying with the McCall’s while Chris was in traveling to Nevada, home shortly after. 

Resigned to the fact that they wouldn’t be able to do anything until they heard back from Peter or Chris, the rest of the pack split up for the night. 

Cora, Lydia, and Jackson went out for dinner, leaving Derek, Talia, Stiles, Kira, Malia, and Boyd at the Hale house.

Malia and Kira sat on one of the couches and huddled together. Boyd looked around the room unsure of what to do before Kira held out her hand and pulled Boyd down to cuddle with them. 

Malia shifted around restlessly for a few moments until Kira smiled and grabbed the remote from the coffee table in front of them. She flipped on the TV and found the program she was looking for. It was a documentary about coyotes that always seemed to calm Malia down. 

This, coupled with the fact that cat Jackson had clawed her way up the couch to her lap, calmed Malia down enough for them all to enjoy their mini puppy pile contently.

Stiles smiled at them and turned to join Talia and Derek in the kitchen where they had begun preparing dinner for the six of them.

“Do you think we should consider not going to the convention?” He asked them as he took a seat at the island. “I mean, given what’s happening, is it really a good idea to split up right now?”

Talia exchanged a look with Derek before responding. “I don’t think we can afford to miss it. The convention is our best chance at gaining allies. And we’ll need all the allies we can get if it turns out Deaton’s disappearance and Alyssa’s escape are connected.”

“It would also make us look weak if we didn’t go,” chimed in Derek from where he was placing a large pot of water on the stove to boil. “Right now, this is only a perceived threat. If we cancel when there’s only a chance we’re being threatened, we look like we can’t take care of ourselves.”

Stiles’ eyebrows shot up almost of their own accord. “We can’t take care of ourselves? Anyone who thinks that is clearly not paying attention. I guess I agree that we need to go to gain allies, but I still don’t feel right about only leaving betas here.”

Talia hummed thoughtfully. “I can call my friend Marcy and tell her that Scott will be unable to join us. Even though Deaton was not his formal emissary, he certainly played that role when Scott was first bitten.”

Derek nodded along with his mother. “No Alpha would fault Scott for missing the convention to look for a former emissary. He can stay behind with the others.”

Stiles sighed in relief, but his shoulders remained tense. The sensation that he was being watched was back, and it was making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

Derek opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but his phone dinged before he could speak. He held his hands up helplessly, looking around for a paper towel so he could wipe off the gunk from the vegetables he had been cutting.

Stiles chuckled. “Here, let me get it.”

Derek turned and offered Stiles his back pocket where the phone was. Stiles, never one to miss an opportunity to touch Derek’s butt, squeezed his cheek playfully through the pocket and took the phone out.

“Oh, it’s just a text from Erica,” he told Derek, who had gone back to cutting up the veggies.

Without turning his head, Derek replied, “Can you read it to me? Is it about Ana?”

Stiles punched in Derek’s password and opened the message. “It says ‘We need to talk. Without –’.” Stiles frowned.

Talia looked up curiously when she heard Stiles’ heart start to race.

“Without what?” Derek asked with furrowed brows, turning to look at Stiles fully.

Stiles cleared his throat. “Without Stiles.”


	6. Without Stiles

“Without Stiles?” Derek repeated, washing his hands and taking the phone away from Stiles so he could read the message himself.

Stiles just nodded and looked between Talia and Derek in question.

“I’m sure everything’s fine. She probably just wants to get me alone so she can ask invasive personal questions,” Derek suggested half-heartedly.

“Nope, she knows the answers to pretty much any invasive personal question you can think of,” replied Stiles, frowning.

Derek looked around shiftily. “…She does?”

Stiles chuckled, momentarily forgetting the issue at hand. “Of course she does, Der. Are you trying to tell me you don’t tell Lydia everything she wants to know about our personal life?” 

Derek opened his mouth incredulously, then closed it. “Fine,” he begrudgingly admitted. “You might be right.”

Stiles sobered quickly and deflated. “What could she possibly want to talk to you about that she wouldn’t want me to know?”

Talia walked forward and wrapped an arm around Stiles shoulder, rubbing her hand up and down his arm consolingly. “I’m sure it’s nothing, dear. Derek, why don’t you go see what Erica wants while Stiles and I finish up dinner?”

Derek nodded as Talia let go of Stiles to take over vegetable cutting. Derek approached Stiles cautiously, as if he suddenly wasn’t sure Stiles would want him close.

Stiles rolled his eyes and shook away his negative thoughts as he closed the distance between himself and Derek. Derek let out a relieved sigh and kissed Stiles with enthusiasm, biting his bottom lip teasingly as they pulled apart.

“Hurry back,” Stiles told him with a wave.

Once Derek was gone, Stiles lost himself in his cooking. He let himself forget his troubles and focused on the task at hand.

Stiles and Talia had developed quite the routine when they cooked together. They worked with one another seamlessly, not having to speak, but always somehow knowing what the other needed.

By the time dinner was ready, Derek was back from the Stilinski’s.

Even though he was practically buzzing out of his skin in anticipation, Stiles could tell that Derek was not ready or willing to talk about what Erica had told him.

Derek had entered the house quietly, pulling the door shut behind him without a sound. His face was pale and blank, reminiscent of the empty glares he used to fix Stiles with back in the day, but absent the heat behind his eyes.

Stiles shuddered at the sight of his wolf looking so miserable. He debated asking what had happened, but decided instead to wrap Derek up in a silent bone-crushing hug.

Derek returned the embrace with a ferocity that was almost frightening. His hands gripped the back of Stiles’ shirt and his chest pushed itself against Stiles’ own so hard, Stiles stumbled back half a step before regaining his balance.

The six of them ate in tense silence for a few minutes before it was broken by Malia.

“Ok, what is going on? Stiles smells sad and confused, and Derek won’t look at anyone.”

Kira placed her hand on Malia’s gently. “It’s ok, Malia. Boyd,” she addressed the beta to change the subject. “Which classes are you planning to sign up for at BHCC?”

Boyd furrowed his brows thoughtfully. “Well Peter already signed me up for his Lit class. Erica and Isaac, too.”

Stiles scoffed. “Whoever gave that man a teaching license…” He trailed off, shaking his head.

“Eh,” countered Malia. “My dad’s a psychopath, not an idiot.”

“Malia,” Talia chided gently with humor in her eyes.

Malia rolled her eyes, but conceded. “Former psychopath,” she muttered.

The rest of the dinner passed by without incident. Talia kept the conversation flowing, asking Boyd, Kira, and Malia about their plans for the future. She didn’t address any of her questions towards Derek or Stiles, sensing that the two would rather not be forced to feign interest in whatever topic they were discussing.

Malia and Kira did the dishes, while Stiles ushered Derek upstairs to one of the offices.

“Ok, what is going on?” Stiles demanded, gently leading Derek to the couch against the far wall. “You look… sickly.”

Stiles sat against the arm of the couch, turned in towards Derek. Derek sat on the edge of his cushion, back straight as a board. His eyes flitted around the room, landing on everything but Stiles’ face.

Finally, Derek sighed and leaned forward to cradle his head in his hands.

“Stiles, I don’t think I can tell you what Erica and Isaac told me,” he whispered miserably. 

Stiles felt a wave of sadness rush through him, but pushed it back so he could focus. “Isaac’s in on this too?”

Derek nodded into his hands.

Stiles wracked his brain trying to think of something Erica and Isaac could have told Derek that would evoke this kind of reaction. 

He came up empty.

Stiles scooted down the couch and rubbed circles into Derek’s back soothingly.

“Der, whatever it is, you can trust me.” His voice was barely above a whisper.

Derek finally looked up into Stiles’ eyes. He looked wrecked. “I know I can trust you. But can you trust me?”

“Of course,” Stiles replied instantly.

“Then –,” Derek stopped. He reached forward to cup Stiles’ jaw.

Stiles’ eyes closed of their own accord and he leaned into the touch.

“Then please trust me when I say that I can’t tell you.” He blew out a breath and dropped his hand.

Eyes still closed, Stiles sighed. “I thought Alpha’s weren’t supposed to keep secrets from their emissary?” He opened his eyes and met Derek’s.

Derek nodded, his eyes bleeding red. “I have this dull ache in my chest, and I’m not sure if it’s because I’m an Alpha keeping something from my emissary, or if it’s because I’m a man keeping something from the person I love.”

Stiles attempted a smile, but dropped it after a second. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Derek’s bearded cheek. “Maybe it’s a little bit of both,” he whispered.

They were both quiet for several minutes, contemplating how to proceed.

“Ok,” said Stiles, breaking the silence. “You don’t have to tell me. But I do need to know one thing.”

“Name it,” Derek replied immediately.

“Is keeping this secret from me going to directly harm you or the pack?”

“No,” vowed Derek, shaking his head sharply.

“Alright, then,” Stiles said simply, leaning back onto the couch.

Derek’s eyes lost their Alpha red coloring as he frowned. “That’s it?”

Stiles smiled and pulled Derek down to lay on his chest. “Like I said, I trust you. I trust you with my life and I’ve come to trust you with your own as well. You’ll tell me when I need to know.”

Derek nodded into Stiles chest, and Stiles could feel the tension leaving his wolf’s shoulders and back. 

Stiles pressed a kiss onto the top of Derek’s head and held him until they both fell asleep.


	7. Creepy

Sometime after they fell asleep on the couch, Derek and Stiles must have migrated to their room. As he woke up in their bed, Stiles kept his eyes closed, trying desperately to cling onto those last few peaceful moments of sleep.

He felt an arm tighten around his waist and frowned slightly. There was something off, but he couldn’t put his finger on what.

Something soft was tickling his face, so Stiles blearily opened one eye and couldn’t help but smile at what he saw. 

Lydia had snuck into their room during the night and squeezed herself between Derek and Stiles. Derek was curled around her protectively, facing Stiles. The wolf’s arm was tightly secured around her waist and his head was nuzzled into her shoulder blade. Lydia’s hair fell in a curtain around her head, draping both her face and part of Stiles’.

Stiles’ smile dropped off his face when he realized with a jolt that if Derek was in front of him, someone else was spooning him from behind.

He didn’t have to think too hard about who it was once he looked down and saw that Cora was curled up around their feet, snuffling softly in her sleep. 

Jackson.

Stiles couldn’t help the giggle that escaped his mouth. If someone had told him two years ago that Jackson Whittemore of all people would be cuddling with him, Stiles would have laughed in their face.

Careful not to wake him, Stiles turned in Jackson’s arms slowly so they were face to face.

“Hey, J?” He whispered, placing his nose as close to Jackson’s as possible.

“Yeah?” Jackson responded without opening his eyes.

“What are you doing here, buddy?”

Jackson huffed sleepily. “Smelled sad,” was all he said.

Stiles cooed softly and wiggled his way out from under Jackson’s arm. Once he was standing at the foot of the bed, he couldn’t help but grab his phone and take a picture of his packmates in their puppy pile. 

He smiled softly at the picture on his phone, but the smile turned sour when he remembered his conversation with Derek the night before.

There was no reason for Stiles not to trust him, but that wasn’t going to stop Stiles from worrying about what Derek said he couldn’t tell him.

Shaking off his unease, Stiles got ready for the day and slipped out quietly to start making breakfast for the pack. Talia and Boyd were already up and were chatting quietly on the back porch swing outside.

He put all the ingredients together for an egg and sausage casserole, and pulled his phone out to call Peter once it was in the oven.

“Well, well, well,” Peter purred as he answered. “If it isn’t my favorite emissary.”

“Save it, Peter, your charm doesn’t work on me over the phone,” Stiles scoffed.

“Hm, does that mean it works on you in person?” He retorted immediately. 

Stiles rolled his eyes. “Aren’t you working on the whole not being creepy thing?”

He could practically see the smirk on Peter’s face. “These things take time. Why are you calling?”

Stiles sighed and turned on the coffee pot. “Wanted an update. Any news on Deaton?”

“None,” replied Peter, all trace of teasing gone. “The trail’s gone cold, there’s nothing left for us to follow.”

“Shit.” Stiles sat down at the kitchen table and ran his free hand through his hair. “Well, you guys had better come home then. I don’t like us being so spread out, especially when we don’t know what’s going on.”

“Ok, we’ll pack it up. If Laura drives, we should be home by dinner.”

They hung up and Stiles collapsed onto the table, dreading the call he would have to make to Scott.

“I’ll tell Scott.”

The voice made Stiles jump. He looked around the room wildly before his eyes landed on Kira, curled up on an armchair in the living room.

“Kira!” Stiles waited a few moments until his heartbeat went back to normal. “You don’t have to, I can call him.”

Kira shook her head. “Malia and I are heading over to his place in a few minutes. I’m going to teach Allison how to fight with a katana.”

Stiles nodded and sighed in relief. “Ok. Thanks, Kira.”

Stiles’ phone pinged with an incoming text from his dad. They were going to take Ana to the park in an hour and wanted to know if anyone else wanted to join them.

He shot off a reply that he would be there and rushed back into the kitchen to check on the breakfast casserole.

Derek, Jackson, Lydia, and Cora arrived downstairs a few minutes after Malia and Kira left. Cora wandered outside to join Boyd and her mom.

Stiles greeted Derek with a kiss and pressed a mug of coffee into his hands. They shared a look that Stiles hoped Derek understood to mean ‘I love you very much, and we’ll get through this even though you’re keeping something from me.’ But that was a lot of pressure to put on a look.

“Dad’s taking Ana to the park in a bit. You coming?” He asked his sleepy wolf, who was guzzling the coffee Stiles had made for him.

Derek mumbled in the affirmative and sat down beside Lydia to start eating his breakfast.

When they arrived at the park, Stiles felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up again. He shrugged it off when he saw Ana running towards him, but still surveyed the tree line by the park’s edge. Ana hopped into his open arms and planted a wet kiss on his forehead.

“What are you lookin’ at?” She asked him with wide brown eyes.

Stiles finished scanning the area and met her gaze. “Nothing, sweetie. Sand castle time?”

She cheered and squirmed until he put her down. The two raced off to the sand box.

Stiles got Ana settled, then noticed that Erica and Isaac seemed to be giving him a wide berth. As if they were worried he would be angry with them.

He heard Erica whine quietly when Derek approached. Derek put a calming hand on the back of her neck and pulled her forward so their foreheads were touching. That seemed to calm her down enough for her to make her way over to Stiles and Ana, towing Isaac along with her.

Erica and Isaac sat down on the edge of the box, not meeting Stiles’ eyes.

Stiles sighed in exasperation. “Guys, I’m not mad at you.”

Isaac’s head raised first. He gave Stiles an adorably hopeful look before smiling and scooting towards him. Stiles slung his arm around Isaac’s shoulder and looked at Erica expectantly. 

She whined again and flung herself at the two, knocking them into the sand. Ana laughed and jumped on top of Erica, pinning the three of them down. 

Stiles looked up through the pile and found his parents and Derek smiling down at them.

Suddenly, Derek’s head shot to the left towards the trees. He inhaled deeply and cocked his head to the side to hear better.

Isaac and Erica, now on full alert, righted themselves and stood up to flank their Alpha.

Without looking away from the tree line, Derek addressed the two. “Go,” he ordered.

They took off towards the trees with Stiles and John on their heels. Derek and Claudia stayed behind with Ana.

They didn’t have to run far before they came across a man dressed all in black, hiding behind a small grouping of trees with a perfect view of the playground. 

Stiles knew immediately that this was the man who had been watching him for quite some time. His skin felt clammy and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end once more.

Isaac and Erica both sniffed the air with twin frowns. Stiles shot them a questioning look, but they both shook their heads in confusion. Clearly something was off with his scent, but they didn’t know what.

“Can we help you with something?” John asked, very much in Sheriff mode.

The man drew himself to full height, which was not unimpressive. “As far as I’m aware, this is public property, is it not?”

John conceded the point with a tilt of his head. “It is, but there’s a children’s playground not fifty feet from where we’re standing. I’m sure you can appreciate that we would be concerned to come across a man hiding in the trees.”

“It’s pretty creepy, dude,” added Erica with a seemingly apathetic glare.

Isaac nodded in agreement. “Very creepy.”

“I was merely taking a stroll,” he replied, gesturing to the faint, but noticeable running trail that ran parallel to the playground.

John took a step towards the man. “Well then I’ll have to ask you to continue your stroll. You’re creeping out my kids.”

When the man looked like he was about to argue, John interrupted him. “Unless you’d like me to make my request a little more formal?” He placed his hands on his belt, where his Sheriff’s badge was clearly visible. 

“That won’t be necessary,” the man replied after a moment. He turned and walked away from the playground, whistling a tune Stiles couldn’t quite place.

Stiles and John ran back towards the others, while Erica and Isaac waited in the trees until they could no longer see or hear the man. 

“Did you feel it?” Stiles asked Derek as he approached.

Derek nodded nervously. “That was definitely the man who’s been watching us. There was something about him, though.”

“His scent?” Asked Erica as she walked back with Isaac. “I smelled it too.”

Claudia frowned. “Supernatural?”

Isaac shook his head. “No, he’s human. There’s just something so…” He trailed off, furrowing his brows in thought. 

“Familiar,” Erica finished. “He smells familiar.”

The other wolves nodded. Even though the man was gone, they decided to leave the park day for another time.


	8. Blue

John, Talia, Isaac, and Jackson spent the next few hours combing the woods for any sign of the man. By the time they returned to the Hale house, Peter and the rest of Deaton’s search party were back in Beacon Hills. 

“Anything?” Stiles asked when his dad walked in the door.

John shook his head with a frown. “Nothing. And there was no scent, either. It’s like this guy just vanished.”

Stiles deflated and slumped down into an armchair in the living room. 

Isaac collapsed onto one of the couches and scooted up until his head was on Lydia’s lap. Lydia put on a show of huffing indignantly, but Stiles could see the pleased smile on her face as she started running her hands through Isaac’s hair softly.

“So he’s masking his scent,” Malia concluded. “How can he do that? Can we do that?”

Keith looked up from the bowl of pasta he was scarfing down in the kitchen. “Werewolves, and werecoyotes,” he added with a nod towards Malia, “Can be trained to mask their scents, but he was human, wasn’t he?”

Jackson nodded, plopping down on Isaac’s other side. “Yeah, he had to have been. Otherwise Stiles’ wards would have gone off.” He sighed at the hopeful look Isaac was giving him, and pulled the younger wolf’s feet onto his lap begrudgingly. 

Stiles did an inward check of his wards for what felt like the hundredth time that day, and found that they were still intact. “Human,” he confirmed to the pack.

“John, is there anything that can be done on your end?” Peter asked from his perch on the kitchen counter where he was holding a purring cat Jackson.

John shook his head again. “I’ll do what I can, but putting out an APB on a white male in his thirties with dark brown hair and brown eyes is kind of like asking people to be on the lookout for a needle in a stack of needles.”

“Should we be taking about skipping the convention?” Asked Dom, walking over to Peter and leaning against the counter with his arms crossed.

The pack looked to their Alphas, all clearly wondering the same thing.

The three of them looked back and forth at each other.

“No,” said Scott finally.

He stood up from the loveseat he was sharing with Allison and Boyd and walked over to stand next to Derek. “The pack can’t afford to pass up this opportunity. We need allies, especially with this new unknown threat.”

Talia and Derek nodded along with Scott.

“Scott’s right,” Derek agreed, ignoring the amused snort from Stiles. “We need to do this.”

They talked a little more about convention logistics before Stiles’ phone rang with an incoming call from Chris.

“Hey, what did you find out?” He answered, placing the phone on speaker in the middle of the living room.

“It wasn’t easy gaining access to this place,” Chris replied. “They sealed the prison pretty solidly after what happened. But we were able to find out a few things.”

Stiles and Derek exchanged a worried look across the room at the tone of Chris’s voice.

“First of all, Alyssa didn’t escape. Someone broke her out.”

“What did the cameras pick up?” Asked Allison immediately.

Chris huffed in irritation. “Nothing. Whoever it was, knew exactly where the cameras were located. We have a rough height and build, but even that is skewed because it looked like they were wearing a few layers to throw us off.”

“They didn’t catch anything useful?” Cut in John with a frown.

“There was one thing that was… odd.” Chris trailed off for a moment before bringing himself back to the conversation. “One of the cameras broke about a week ago and was replaced by a full rotation camera. It managed to catch a flash of blue in the person’s face as they ran by with Alyssa.”

“Blue?” Stiles repeated.

John rubbed his hands over his face wearily. “Look, I know this is probably an obvious question, but we’re thinking supernatural, right? I mean the man in the woods was human, but we’re not sure they’re connected. So whoever broke Alyssa out was supernatural?”

“No doubt in my mind,” Chris replied firmly.

Allison cocked her head to the side. “Dad, what aren’t you telling us?”

“Well, whoever it was attacked a few of the guards during the breakout. It took a bribe or two, but I was able to get into the control room where the attack took place and whatever did that was clearly supernatural. There’s just no way one human could have caused that much damage.”

“Dammit,” said Stiles with a sigh. “Ok, thanks Chris. You and Wallace should head home now, then.”

Chris hesitated. “It’s late. I think we’ll go stay the night with Liz and the coven. We’ll head home first thing in the morning.”

Stiles shrugged. “Let me know when you’re on the road.”

They hung up and Stiles looked up from the phone to find Jackson smirking. “What?”

“You didn’t think Chris would pass up an opportunity to spend the night at his girlfriend’s house, did you?”

Allison shot him a look. “Girlfriend?”

“Jackson,” warned Talia. 

“Oh, come on, Tal. It’s not like he’s been very subtle about it,” sneered Peter. “How many ‘gun deals’ did he have to stay overnight for in Nevada over the last few months?”

Dom elbowed Peter and nodded pointedly towards Allison.

Allison just squinted at the rest of the pack. “Which one of the coven is he dating? Not Sophie, she’s only a few years older than us.”

“Nope, not Sophie.” Jackson responded delightedly.

“Jackson,” Derek shined his eyes at the beta, resulting in a pout from the younger wolf.

Allison walked up to Scott and turned on her puppy dog eyes. Placing her hands on his chest, she leaned into him and asked again. “Which one is it, Scott?”

“Scott, that’s a trap,” offered Isaac lazily, still pillowed on Lydia and Jackson comfortably. 

Scott looked around the room for help, but found that half the pack looked supremely uninterested in the conversation, and the other half was smirking at him unhelpfully. 

He glanced down at Allison and made the mistake of looking right into her pleading eyes. “Madeline,” he answered as if hypnotized.

Allison dropped the puppy dog eyes and smacked Scott on the chest. “You knew! You knew and you didn’t say anything?”

“Told you,” said Isaac with his eyes closed. “Trap.”

Scott shrank back from the attack. “It wasn’t my place to tell you!” 

Stiles laughed and the pack dissipated, leaving Allison and Scott to their spat.

He strode over to Derek and placed his arm around the wolf’s waist. Derek whined and stuck his nose into Stiles’ neck, seeking out his calming scent.

“What’s wrong, babe?” He whispered.

When Derek didn’t answer, Stiles guessed. “You want to be with Ana right now, don’t you?”

Derek just nodded into his neck. 

“Ok, come on. She’s with mom at the bookstore. Laura and Grady should be there, too.” He allowed Derek a few more moments of smelly peace before dislodging him and leading him to the car. 

They passed Scott and Allison, who had seemingly already made up and were making out on the couch. Stiles snorted and shook his head fondly at the pair.

When he and Derek were halfway to the bookstore, Stiles’ phone rang again. He didn’t recognize the number, but reluctantly let go of Derek’s hand to answer it.

“Hello?” 

“Hello, Stiles,” replied an accented voice he recognized immediately. 

Derek slammed on the brakes and pulled the car over, gesturing for Stiles to put the phone on speaker. 

He did, meeting Derek’s eyes before responding.

“What do you want, Deucalion?”


	9. Lose my number

“Now is that any way to greet someone who’s about to do you a favor?” 

Stiles rolled his eyes, his nerves giving way to his irritation. “You have five seconds to tell me why you’re calling or I’m hanging up.”

There was a moment of silence on the line. Stiles looked down to see if the call was still connected when – .

“I owe a debt to two of your Alphas, and an apology to the third,” he replied slowly but with certainty. “I am hoping that providing you with this information may serve to wipe my slate clean.”

Derek met Stiles’ eyes over the phone; their faces wore identical looks of confusion.

“Go on, then,” Stiles insisted. 

“Before I do, I need to know who is within hearing distance of you. I would prefer if it not get back to the person about whom I am calling that it was I who helped you.” The nervous tinge in Deucalion’s voice stopped Stiles from making a sarcastic remark in response.

“Derek is here with me,” he replied. “No one else.”

Stiles heard a slight sigh. “Derek,” he greeted. 

Without waiting for a response, Deucalion continued. “I have been behaving as we agreed I would when I last left Beacon Hills. I have acquired a small pack of betas and we are living a relatively peaceful life on the East Coast.”

Stiles squinted suspiciously at the phone, but said nothing.

“A few days ago, I was approached by a woman who seemed to know quite a great deal about your pack. She asked me about my history with you all, which I was somewhat hesitant to recount to her given her general demeanor.” 

Deucalion cleared his throat. “Nothing in my story seemed to surprise her, as if she had already been told the ending by someone else. When I was finished, she merely asked me if I would be interested in getting a little… retribution.” He sneered around the word, as if that was exactly what he would like.

“To what end?” Derek asked after a few seconds of silence.

“Why, the total annihilation of your pack, Derek,” Deucalion responded, unperturbed.

Stiles bit his lip before addressing Deucalion again. “I have to say, I’m a little surprised you didn’t take her up on her offer. How do we know what you’re telling us is the truth?”

“You don’t,” he said simply. “But you would be fools to dismiss what I’m telling you merely because it may not be the truth.”

Stiles sighed wearily. “Fine. Say we believe you. All you’ve told us is that there’s some woman out there looking to take out our pack. That’s nothing we haven’t heard before. What makes this woman so special?”

“Ah, Stiles, as I am sure you can imagine, I have come across quite a few people who are not in their right mind. This one, however, was a singularly disturbed individual.”

Rolling his eyes, Stiles asked, “I don’t suppose this ‘singularly disturbed individual’ gave you her name?”

He could hear the smile in Deucalion’s reply. “As a matter of fact, she did. Her name was Kate.”

Stiles’ eyes shot up to meet Derek’s. Neither one spoke or breathed for several seconds. When Derek looked away, Stiles gulped and addressed Deucalion again. “Did she give you a last name?”

“She told me it was Williams, but she and I both knew I could hear the lie in her heartbeat. I take it you know exactly who I am talking about?”

“We’ve met,” replied Stiles sourly, his eyes not leaving Derek’s wrecked face.

Deucalion kept talking as if he hadn’t just ripped Derek’s heart from his chest. “Before I declined her offer, she did let slip that she had someone in your vicinity. His purpose was unclear to me, but she mentioned that he had already divulged several weaknesses to her.”

“Ok,” Stiles said when he found his voice again. “Thank you,” he added reluctantly. “Oh, and Duke?”

Deucalion huffed at the nickname. “Yes, Stiles?”

“I appreciate you giving us this information, but you can feel free to lose my number now.”

“Of course,” he purred in response. “I’ll see you next week,” he added cheekily.

Before Stiles could respond to this new information, Deucalion hung up.

“It’s not possible,” Stiles insisted immediately. He reached across the seat and gathered Derek’s haunted face into his hands softly.

Derek’s breathing had turned shallow and his eyes darted around the car without a mission. 

“Shit,” mumbled Stiles, letting go of Derek so he could take off his seatbelt. He climbed out of the car and ran around to the driver’s side door, wrenching it open. He turned Derek so the man’s legs were dangling out of the door, and crouched down between them. 

He looked up at Derek until their eyes met. Derek’s expression went from lost to steely so quickly, Stiles shuddered.

“Derek, what are you thinking?” Stiles asked him warily.

“It’s her,” he croaked. “She’s alive.”

Stiles shook his head adamantly. “She can’t be. Peter slit her throat, Derek. She couldn’t have survived that.”

Derek fixed Stiles with an incredulous look. “Half our pack used to be dead! If anyone could crawl their way out of certain death, it’s Kate. Do you remember me telling you about the dream I had of her?”

Stiles frowned, thinking. “You mean last year? After the Nogitsune?”

Derek nodded, focusing on his breathing.

“Yeah, you said she attacked you in your loft. And then afterwards, you had a dream where you told me about it. When you finally woke up and actually came to tell me about it, it took almost ten minutes to convince you that you weren’t dreaming again.”

Derek buried his head in his hands, whining pitifully. Stiles reached up and placed his hand on the back of Derek’s neck, the way he knew the wolves did with each other.

“But, Derek, that was a dream. Kate didn’t attack you in the loft.” Stiles’ voice wobbled slightly, taking away some of his credibility.

“You don’t understand,” Derek whispered miserably. “I’ve always thought it was real. It felt so real, Stiles.” He looked away from Stiles, avoiding his eyes. 

Stiles frowned. “What else aren’t you telling me, Derek?”

He dropped his hands to rest on Derek’s legs, his thumbs rubbing circles over Derek’s knees methodically.

Derek sighed and closed his eyes. “In the loft, when she transformed, her face was blue.”

Stiles used his hands on Derek’s knees to push himself up to his feet. “We need to call Chris.”


	10. Quite a surprise

To say that Chris was stunned would be an understatement. After a few dozen rounds of ‘it’s not possible,’ his logical hunter mode kicked in and he and Wallace sped home.

Derek and Stiles turned around and headed back to the Hale house. Neither was really in a good enough place to see Ana, and she was perfectly safe with Claudia and Grady for the moment.

When they pulled into the driveway, they were met by Talia, Laura, and Peter, having clearly been alarmed at the rapid pace of Derek’s heartbeat as soon as he had been within hearing distance. 

“What’s wrong?” Asked Talia, striding over to the passenger seat and opening it without waiting for the car to come to a complete stop.

Stiles climbed out of the driver’s seat – Derek had been in no state to continue driving – and approached Laura and Peter, who were watching the scene in silence. 

He could see that Derek was mumbling to his mother quietly, and if Laura and Peter’s faces were any indication, he was recounting the entire message from Deucalion. 

Stiles could tell when he got to the part about Kate, because Peter growled and Laura’s claws came out with a loud click.

The two looked to him for confirmation, but all he was able to manage was a firm nod.

Derek had collapsed onto his mother’s shoulder and didn’t look like he’d be going anywhere for a few minutes, so Stiles ran inside to warn the rest of the pack. 

He found Scott first, whose eyes went glassy and wide when he first heard the news. He shook it off quickly, and set off to let everyone else know before Derek got inside.

Stiles found Allison outside by the archery range, practicing with a new bow Derek had just gotten her.

She was in full archer mode, so Stiles let her practice for another minute before making his presence known. 

“Stiles!” Allison put her hand over her heart and chuckled once her breathing had resumed to normal. “I didn’t see you there. What’s up?”

She put down her bow and took a swig of water, eying Stiles with curiosity.

Stiles gulped and stepped forward so they were only a few feet apart. “I got a call from Deucalion about half an hour ago.”

Allison frowned and put down her water. “Deucalion? What could he have possibly wanted from you?”

“Nothing, as it turns out. He, uh. He actually called to tell me – us – something.” He looked around shiftily and bit his lip.

“Stiles you’re making me nervous. What did he say?” The frown on her forehead became more prominent as she tried to catch Stiles’ eye.

“Ally, he said – he said Kate’s alive.” Stiles held his breath as his words caught up with Allison.

Allison didn’t speak for almost a minute, so Stiles did what he does best in those situations. He talked. He filled her in on everything Deucalion had said, and told her about the dream Derek had about Kate. When he finished, Allison simply nodded once and strode back into the house.

By the time Stiles had caught up with her, she was standing in the kitchen, looking at something by the front door. Stiles looked around and saw that Derek had stopped at the threshold and had locked eyes with the young huntress.

The rest of the pack, who wore various stages of shock on their faces, were standing around the kitchen and living room, looking between the two apprehensively.

No one spoke.

Suddenly, and without warning, Derek closed the space between himself and Allison and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

Allison let out a sob she’d been holding in, and gripped the back of Derek’s shirt with a wild ferocity. 

This stunning display of camaraderie really threw into sharp relief just how far both Derek and Allison had come in the last year and a half.

Stiles nodded for the rest of the pack to leave them alone, so they followed him out into the backyard.

“Ok,” began Talia, once the pack was all outside. “Here’s what we need to do. Assuming Deucalion is correct, and Kate is back – ,” 

She paused while a few of the wolves growled. “Kira, Malia, I need the two of you to get in touch with the contacts you made in Washington and see if they’ve heard anything about Kate’s activities.”

The two nodded and took off into the house.

“Peter, Dom, you two get in touch with any supernatural contacts we had before the fire. See if we’ve got any friends left and if they’re willing to share what they know.”

Dom grabbed Peter’s hand and took off after Malia and Kira.

“John,” she continued swiftly. “Grady, and Ana are at the bookstore with Claudia. I need you, Laura, and Grady to look for anything in the police files about incidents over the last year that involved a woman fitting Kate’s description.”

John was already halfway to the door with his phone out by the time she finished talking.

“Scott, take Boyd and Jackson to the animal clinic and see if Deaton has any books, herbs or weapons that may help protect us from Kate. If you aren’t sure, take it anyway. Deaton may not be here right now, but he’d want to help us if he were.”

With a sharp nod, Scott left with Jackson and Boyd in tow.

“You four,” she said, pointing at Erica, Cora, Keith, and Isaac. “Research. We need to know what she is, how it’s possible she’s back, what she might do, and,” she paused, letting her eyes bleed Alpha red, “How we can ensure that she doesn’t come back next time.”

“Actually,” Isaac cut in. 

The mere fact that Isaac had never interrupted anyone in his life was enough for Talia to stop and give him her full attention.

“I’d like to go see Pahn’s parents. They may have more insight into what’s going on. And I needed to talk to them about something else anyway.”

Talia considered the proposition for a moment before agreeing silently. She spared Isaac a small proud smile before turning to address the Stiles and Lydia, who were the last two left in the backyard. 

“What about us?” Lydia asked with her jaw set in determination. Her eyes were clear and fierce, and Stiles was reminded with a grin why he had been in love with her for most of his life.

“Derek is going to need the two of you. Now, more than ever,” Talia responded. “We are already at somewhat of a disadvantage for the convention next week because Scott will be staying behind to lead the search for Deaton. The last thing we need is for Derek to be distracted by the situation with Kate.”

“He won’t ask for help. You know he won’t,” she continued sadly. “But the two of you know him better than anyone. Help him get through this week.”

Lydia grabbed Stiles’ hand and nodded at Talia. “Of course.”

Stiles agreed readily and threw Talia a grateful smile. “What are you going to do?”

Talia smirked. “Me? I’m going to call my friend Marcy. If Kate tries to show her face at the TPC next week, she’s going to be in for quite a surprise.”


	11. Keeping secrets

Once Derek and Allison had separated, Allison went off to call her family’s hunting contacts for any information they could find on Kate.

Lydia and Stiles took Derek into the living room and sat him down on the couch with one of them on either side of him. Lydia carded her fingers through his hair while Stiles intertwined their fingers. He placed his other hand around Derek’s wrist, which was half to help calm the wolf, and half to allow Stiles access to Derek’s pulse so he could see if Derek was beginning to panic again.

As soon as Derek had shaken off his pseudo-catatonia, he turned to Stiles, still looking broken. “Ana?”

Stiles threw him a reassuring smile and took out his phone. He pulled up his text chain with his mother and showed Derek a picture of Ana laughing while she helped put away books by levitating them onto the shelves.

“She’s fine, Der. She’s going to stay with my parents for a couple of days. The pack’s basically turning this place into a war room, so we figured it would be best to keep her out of it for as long as possible.”

Derek frowned, relief and concern warring on his face. “You’re parents are going to think I’m using them as a babysitting service,” he half joked.

“Are you kidding me? They love Ana! She called my dad Grandpa Sheriff the other day and he just about exploded with pride.” Stiles’ eyes met Derek’s misty ones and they shared a small smile.

Stiles’ phone pinged with an incoming text. He took his hand away from Derek’s for a second, causing the wolf to whine and curl further into Lydia. 

Lydia just laughed and readjusted Derek so he was fully lying down with his head in her lap. She continued to run her fingers through his hair, scratching his scalp occasionally.

Stiles looked down at his phone and saw that the text was from Isaac asking him to meet in the woods behind the Stilinski house. Alone.

He fought to keep his heartbeat in check and shot off a text asking Isaac to elaborate. 

Isaac said he couldn’t, but reiterated that it was important.

Stiles looked around the room and saw that Ana had left her stuffed wolf behind. He stood up and crossed the room to grab it.

“I’m going to run this over to Ana and pick up some groceries on the way back. I’m thinking this situation calls for lots and lots of comfort food.”

Derek pouted at the loss of Stiles at his side, but was too comfortable to actually do anything about it. He snuffled adorably and nuzzled further into Lydia’s lap, eliciting a chuckle from the banshee.

“Go,” she told Stiles softly. “We’re good here. Besides, if we get bored, we can go over the brochures I asked Marcy to send a few days ago so we could decide which panels we want to attend at the convention ahead of time.”

Derek groaned, but Stiles could tell he was grateful for the distraction.

Stiles couldn’t resist taking a picture of the two of them with his phone, prompting both of them to swat him away lazily. He laughed and jogged out the door to his jeep.

He pulled up to the house and ran around back. Thankfully, his mom and Ana were still at the bookstore, and his dad was still at the police station with Laura and Grady, so he and Isaac would be alone.

Isaac was waiting just past the tree line, sitting on a fallen log. Stiles joined him and waited.

“Am I about to find out what you and Erica told Derek?” Stiles asked when Isaac didn’t say anything.

Isaac just nodded miserably, clearly still conflicted about telling him.

“Are you sure it’s a good idea to tell me? I mean, I’m dying to know, but I’m the pack’s emissary. I really shouldn’t be keeping secrets from my Alphas.”

“Which is why Isaac called me,” said a voice from behind him.

Talia stepped forward, stopping a few feet away from where they were sitting. 

Stiles looked between Talia and Isaac curiously, but couldn’t get a read on either of them. “Ok… can one of you tell me what’s going on then?”

Stiles was a little surprised when it was Isaac who started to talk and not Talia.

“Do you remember after Allison died, how Chris and I left for a while?” Isaac asked with his head ducked. He knew Stiles didn’t like to think about that time in his life.

Stiles nodded and cleared his throat. “Yeah,” he croaked.

“Well,” Isaac continued hesitantly. “When we left, we took the box with us.”

“What box?” Stiles frowned, looking at Talia to see if she would offer any clarification. 

She stayed silent, but nodded at Isaac to continue when the beta looked up to meet her eyes.

“The – the box with the, um, Nogitsune in it,” Isaac whispered.

Stiles felt a chill run down his spine. He felt his eyesight start to go foggy and unfocused, so he channeled his energy into controlling his breathing and listening to Isaac’s words as he continued to talk.

“A mutual friend gave us the contact information of a man in London who specialized in restoring magical artifacts. He also specialized in concealing them,” Isaac continued. 

“Ok, so you brought the box to him and he concealed it?” Stiles asked, hoping futilely that was the end of the conversation.

Isaac nodded and took a deep breath. “I thought that would be the end of it. He had the box and kept it safe so the Nogitsune could never come back.”

Stiles’ mind was racing. Something clicked and he had to fight bile back into his throat. “Isaac, who was the mutual friend? The one who knows you took the box to this man in London?”

Isaac looked to be on the verge of tears. He swallowed and ducked his eyes before responding. “It was Deaton.”

“So you’re telling me that whoever has Deaton, whom we now are relatively sure is either Kate or someone working with Kate, most likely knows the location of the box containing the Nogitsune?” Stiles could feel his breaths getting shallower and shallower, but he fought to keep a cool head until he had all the information.

When Isaac seemed incapable of answering, Talia stepped in. “There’s more. Isaac called the man in London when we learned that Deaton had been taken, to confirm that the box was still safe.”

Stiles nodded, desperately clinging onto the last bit of hope he had left. “And?”

“He’s dead, Stiles,” confirmed Isaac somberly. “And the box is gone.”


	12. An idea

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING

Stiles was somewhat aware of the fact that he had fallen to the ground, but that was of little concern to him at the moment. His thoughts came in bursts, like his breaths, but the one thought that kept permeating through his panic was “It’s back, it’s back, it’s back.”

His old mantra of, “It’s not back, I am myself,” just wasn’t cutting it for him. His breaths became shallower and shallower until he wasn’t able to draw air in anymore. 

Talia had collapsed onto the ground in front of him at some point, and he could feel Isaac holding onto him from his left side. 

Stiles wondered for a second when it had become dark, before he realized his eyes had slammed shut.

Forcing them open, he was met with Talia’s bright red eyes. Stiles looked at her mouth and saw that it was moving, but no sound was coming out of it.

No, that wasn’t right. He just couldn’t hear. The only thing he could hear was the blood rushing through his head. He focused on the sound, but it wasn’t enough to draw his attention away from the fact that he was possessed again.

No, he’s wasn’t. “I’m fine, I’m fine, I’m fine.” Maybe if he thought the words loudly enough, they would come out of his mouth. 

Clearly it had worked, because he was suddenly aware of Isaac saying, “You’re not, you need to breathe!”

His eyes darted around wildly when suddenly, Talia roared. 

Stiles drew in a painful breath almost involuntarily. Instead of fighting to draw air in, he was now gasping. 

Which was only a slight improvement.

Stiles’ eyes met Talia’s again, and he began to try and match his breaths with hers. 

She drew in, he drew in. 

She breathed out, he breathed out.

There were some hiccups in between, but he finally managed to take slow, deep breaths. 

It took about 15 more minutes of focused breathing for Stiles’ heart rate to slow down and the panic to subside enough for him to form full sentences. 

When he could speak, he used the opportunity to confirm what Isaac and Talia had just told him. 

“Kate has the Nogitsune box.”

They nodded in tandem.

“She already has Alyssa with her, and an unknown man who has been spying on us.”

Another nod.

“And she’s recruiting other packs to try and take down ours.”

“Yes,” confirmed Talia somberly.

Stiles took a deep, steadying breath and stood up. Isaac was at his side in a flash, holding his elbow to steady him.

Stiles shot him a quick grateful smile. “I have to get back. I need to run by the grocery store and Derek’s going to wonder where I’ve gone.”

“Wait,” said Isaac, holding his right hand up and reaching into his back pocket with his left. He pulled out a small box.

“What’s that?” Asked Stiles.

Talia and Isaac locked eyes, then looked back at Stiles.

“We have an idea,” said Talia. 

Ten minutes later, Stiles was wandering through the junk food isle, putting all of Derek’s favorite snacks into his basket. His mind was on auto pilot while he tried to absorb the conversation he had just finished with Talia and Isaac.

“You can’t tell Derek,” Isaac had insisted.

Talia nodded reluctantly. “I do not relish keeping secrets from my son, but in this case, I believe the best course is to keep him in the dark for now.”

Stiles had put up a fight initially, but had given up after only a few minutes. As much as he hated the fact that Derek had kept the secret of the missing Nogitsune box from him, he could now understand the impulse.

Thankfully, Derek was fast asleep when Stiles got back to the Hale house. He unloaded the groceries in a daze, putting everything in the pantry but the package of Oreos he knew Derek would devour when he woke up.

When Stiles had first found Derek’s Oreo stash almost a year ago, Derek had denied liking them for three whole weeks, claiming that the stash was Isaac’s. 

Now, it was a widely known fact that if you ever wanted anything from Derek, all you had to do was buy him his favorite sandwich cookie.

Stiles saw Lydia drape a blanket over Derek’s snoring form before she walked into the kitchen. She sat at the table and crossed her legs, waiting patiently for Stiles to join her.

He sat across from her and looked down at his hands.

“You know I love you, right?” She asked softly, apropos of nothing.

Stiles was momentarily shocked out of his daze and his head shot up. “Yeah,” he replied when he had finally found his voice. “Yeah, of course I know that. I love you too, Lyds.”

“And I trust you,” she continued briskly. “So whatever it is that happened while you were gone just now, you can tell me.”

Stiles paused and seriously considered bringing her into the loop. Instead, he just replied, “I know I can.”

Lydia nodded, understanding that he wasn’t dismissing her, but was still making it clear that he wouldn’t be talking about it.

She reached her hand across the table and gripped his firmly before releasing him and standing up. “You should probably get in there,” she said, nodding to the living room where Derek was curled up on the couch.

“He was sniffing in his sleep. I think he was looking for your scent, the little weirdo,” she added fondly.

Stiles stood up with a groan, exhausted from his panic attack, and took a detour through the kitchen to down a glass of water before wandering into the living room.

He climbed onto the sofa behind Derek and wrapped the sleeping wolf up in his arms.

Derek’s chest rumbled happily, almost like he was purring. Stiles leaned in and pressed his forehead to the back of Derek’s neck, smiling involuntarily when the rumbling increased in volume.

Stiles’ eyelids needed no prompting before they closed. His mind raced for a bit, before it joined the rest of Stiles’ body and shut off for a few hours of blissful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: Stiles has a panic attack after learning that the Nogitsune box is in Kate's possession. Talia and Isaac are able to help him out of it.


	13. Many reasons

Two days before the pack was set to leave for the convention, Derek, Stiles, John, Lydia, Boyd, and Ana were sitting in the living room playing with cat Jackson.

Boyd had taken one look at Ana’s pleading gaze and had joined her on the floor immediately.

Derek was on the couch, bracketed by Lydia and Stiles, while John occupied the armchair across the room.

The air in the room wasn’t quite as thick as it had been a few days ago; the pack had the beginnings of a plan, and that had set everyone’s mind at ease.

Scott had taken a few pack members to track down a lead he had gotten on Deaton’s whereabouts. The lead was from Deucalion, though, so no one was really sure if it would pan out. In any event, it was unlikely that he would return with Laura, Grady, Keith, and Wallace before everyone left for the convention.

Lydia was leaning against the arm of the couch reading with her feet in Derek’s lap. His hands had found her ankles instinctively and were rubbing them almost without a thought.

Derek and Stiles were slumped together sleepily. They had been woken up early that morning by Ana, who had insisted that they make chocolate chip pancakes.

“Mister Sheriff?” Ana asked, petting Jackson lazily.

John looked up from the newspaper to give her his full attention. “Yeah, peanut?”

“Are you my grandpa?” She turned her wide, inquisitive eyes towards him, oblivious to the way Derek had stiffened up at the question.

John looked at Derek and Stiles momentarily before turning his attention back towards Ana. “What makes you ask that?”

She resumed her petting and answered without looking at him. “My friend Suzy in my class said she has a grandpa, and so does Justin. He sits next to me in art. They asked me if I had a grandpa and I said I didn’t know.”

She looked so sad when she finished, that Derek felt the need to reach out towards her. Stiles took one look at his dad, and held out his hand for Derek to stop for a second. Derek looked at Stiles in confusion, before noticing the determined look on the Sheriff’s face.

Derek smirked slightly, and leaned back onto the couch to watch the interaction unfold.

“Come here,” John said, gesturing towards Ana. He set aside his newspaper and hoisted the little girl onto his lap when she approached him.

“Do you know what a grandpa is?” When she shook her head, he continued. “A grandpa is usually the dad of one of your parents. But not always.”

Ana formed an adorable frown. “But I don’t think mama had a dad. And papa’s dad is with my mama. Does that mean I don’t have a grandpa?” She pouted and looked down at her lap.

The Sheriff’s heart broke at the sight. “You know, Ana, sometimes family is like a pack. You can pick who’s in yours.”

She perked up at that. “So I can pick my grandpa?”

Derek let out a quiet, choked off sobbing noise and buried his head in Stiles’ neck. Stiles wrapped his arms around his wolf and gave his dad an approving smile.

“Yes, you can,” John confirmed.

“Ok,” she said simply, cocking her head to the side. “Then can you be my grandpa?”

John’s eyes shined with pride as he locked eyes with Derek, who had emerged from Stiles’ neck just long enough to throw John a hopeful and grateful smile.

“Of course, peanut,” he replied, kissing the top of her head as she hugged him tightly.

The pack spent the next two days preparing for the convention, and considering every contingency plan they may need to implement if Kate were to show her face there.

Scott called Stiles the day before they were set to leave to let him know that they had found a warehouse where Deaton had definitely been held, but that it had been cleared out at least a day before they had arrived.

“I’m sorry, Scott. See if Liz and the coven can take over the search. We’re leaving tomorrow and we need you guys here to help keep the territory safe.”

Scott sighed. “Yeah, ok. We’re in Idaho, but if we leave now, there should only be a few hours between when you leave and when we get back. Chris can take care of things there for a bit.”

Stiles agreed and the two hung up.

The night before they were to leave, Derek had trouble sleeping. He tossed and turned for about 15 minutes before Stiles broke the silence.

“Talk to me, Der. I know there are a lot of things on your mind right now, but which one is causing you to be all,” he waved his hands around wildly. “Restless.”

Derek huffed and flopped onto his back, glaring at the ceiling. “You,” he gritted out through clenched teeth.

“Me?” Stiles repeated incredulously. “Your psychotic ex girlfriend is back from the dead, you’re about to leave your daughter for a week, and I’M what’s causing your sleeplessness?”

Derek spared him an annoyed glare before elaborating. “You’re keeping something from me.”

Stiles chuckled without humor. “Pot-kettle, babe. You started it.”

The wolf sighed and his face softened. “I know.”

There was silence between them while Stiles shifted around so he and Derek were laying side by side.

“You know, don’t you?” Whispered Derek in the dark.

Stiles didn’t need to ask for clarification to know he was referring to the fact that Kate had the Nogitsune box. “Yeah,” he confirmed. “I do.”

Stiles was expecting to have to wave off an unnecessary apology, but none came. 

Thrilled that Derek was learning not to apologize for everything, Stiles turned and curled into him, burying his head into Derek’s warm chest. Derek’s arm wrapped around Stiles instinctively.

“We’re going to be ok,” he promised, pressing his lips to Derek’s collarbone. 

“You don’t know that,” Derek insisted without heat.

Stiles nodded. “I know. But I’ve triple checked our territory wards, we are about to gain very strong allies at this conference, and there’s one more thing… I can’t remember…”

He paused obnoxiously for effect. “Oh, yeah. We’re part of the most powerful pack in the Northern Hemisphere.”

Derek huffed a laugh. “You’re ridiculous, you know that?”

Stiles snuggled into him further, yawning his way through his response. “Yup, but that’s why you love me.”

Derek pressed a kiss to Stiles’ forehead and watched his eyes slip closed. “Yeah, that’s one of the many reasons why I love you.”


	14. An eccentric bunch

Flying with werewolves is not fun. Their senses go into overdrive and since they can hear and smell everything, a tin tube filled with strangers is a nightmare come true.

Derek, Talia, and Peter were fine, having flown before. Kira, Allison, and Lydia didn’t have advanced hearing, but the rest were trying desperately not to shift due to sensory overload.

“Is there something you can do?” Derek whispered from next to Stiles. 

Stiles bit his lip. “Yes, but it’ll be really unpleasant for them.” He looked around at the struggling wolves and took a deep breath. “Ok, everyone, brace yourselves,” he said, knowing they would all hear him.

He closed his eyes and focused on Isaac, Jackson, Cora, Erica, Malia, Boyd, and Dom. 

Stiles heard a gasp to his right as his spell hit Jackson first. One by one, the rest of the wolves loosened their grasps on their armrests and exhaled gratefully. 

Once they had all relaxed somewhat, their faces began to reflect varying degrees of discomfort, though not enough to cause them to shift.

“What did you do?” Derek asked with a raised eyebrow.

Stiles grimaced. “I took away their senses. They won’t be able to hear or smell anything until we land and I break the spell.”

Derek shot Stiles a grateful smile and leaned forward to place a soothing hand on Boyd’s shoulder. Boyd jumped a little since he hadn’t heard Derek lean forward, but relaxed under his Alpha’s touch.

Talia and Derek kept the others calm for the duration of the flight, but everyone was relieved when they finally touched down in Washington D.C.

They checked into their hotel, which was conveniently attached to the convention center, and set about unpacking their bags. 

While Derek folded his clothes, Stiles pulled out his phone and created a special group text chain for those who were attending the convention.

Since the panels didn’t start until the next day, Stiles fired off a text to see what the group wanted to do. 

Lydia, Jackson, Cora, Erica, and Boyd wanted to tour the monuments and hit up some museums. Peter and Dom had done some research back in Beacon Hills and had found a tailor who specialized in custom-made wedding tuxedos, so they were going to visit his store. Kira had family friends in town who she hadn’t seen since she was a little girl, so she had planned to get dinner with them. Malia decided to tag along with Kira, which left Derek, Stiles, Talia, Isaac, and Allison.

After some debate, they decided to go bowling. Derek, surprisingly, came down on the side of bowling. Apparently it was something he and Laura did a lot in New York after the fire, and he hadn’t been since.

It turned out that Stiles was the worst bowler of the group, until he started using magic to control where the ball went. He got away with it for about six frames before Talia caught him.

It took another frame before Talia could stop laughing long enough to tell the others what Stiles had been doing.

Unsurprisingly, Talia and Allison ended up sweeping the floor with the boys.

They met up with the others, except Kira and Malia, for dinner, which quickly turned into an uproarious affair. The success of the flight, the novelty of being in a new city, and the excited anticipation of the next day’s convention allowed them all to set aside their troubles for one night and just enjoy D.C.

Derek called John before they went to bed to check on Ana, who was doing just fine, and then climbed into bed with a smile.

“What’s that look on your face?” Stiles asked through a grin, turning towards Derek once he was settled.

“I don’t know. I just feel like…” He trailed off, biting his lip.

Stiles was momentarily distracted by the sight, but he shook himself out of it just in time to hear what Derek said next.

“I feel like we’re going to be ok,” he finished in a hushed tone.

Stiles was sure his heart beat had picked up with the amount of pride surging through him at that moment. He giggled and launched himself on top of his wolf, stunning the man into happy silence.

They smiled at each other for a moment before Stiles collapsed contentedly on top of Derek. Derek’s hands drifted up and down Stiles’ back, and Stiles could feel a distinct rumble through Derek’s chest, almost like purring.

They fell asleep like that only minutes later, both still smiling.

When they woke up, their good mood was still there, only slightly muted by nerves. They knew for sure that Deucalion would be at the convention, and he was still a bit of a wild card.

What they didn’t know, was if Kate would show up.

They had received their convention packets about a week before, so Stiles had already been able to ward their admissions lanyards. He didn’t know if there would be any magic users at the convention, but he wouldn’t take any chances with his pack.

Among the wards he had used was a location ward, which would allow him to keep tabs on each of them in the event that they became separated. When he entered the convention center and saw the sheer enormity of the space, Stiles was happy he did.

Behind the check-in counter was a woman roughly Talia’s age, with light brown hair and bright green eyes that lit up when she saw the pack approaching. 

“Talia!” She exclaimed, stepping out from behind the desk to embrace her friend. 

“Marcy,” Talia replied, exchanging cheek kisses and a brief hug. “It’s so great to see you. Allow me to introduce my pack.”

Talia introduced each of them by name and species, ending with Allison. Marcy’s eyebrows shot up at the name Argent, but she stayed silent.

“Quite the eccentric bunch, Talia. How on earth did you all meet?” Marcy asked with genuine humor in her voice. Stiles decided he liked her.

Stiles smiled evilly with mischief in his eyes. “Well, it all started when my friend Scott and I went looking for a body in the woods…”

“Turned out to be my sister, Laura,” Cora interjected.

“Don’t worry, she’s fine now,” Dom offered.

“Apparently I just can’t kill people like I used to,” added Peter idly, picking at his fingernail unconcernedly.

“He’d gone crazy after the fire that killed me and Talia,” Dom told Marcy.

Marcy placed her hand over her heart in shock.

“It’s ok,” Isaac placated. “Derek got him back for it.”

“But that didn’t take,” added Lydia with an eye roll. “He used me to magically bring him back to life.”

“Which I apologized for,” Peter pointed out with a smile aimed at Lydia.

“And then this one tried to kill us,” said Boyd, pointing at Allison, then gesturing to himself and Erica.

“Which we’ve forgiven her for,” supplied Erica with a wink at Allison.

“After all, we did try to kill Lydia,” said Isaac to Erica.

“Because you thought she was me,” huffed Jackson. “I used to be a kanima,” he added to Marcy, who was looking more and more confused by the second.

“But then Peter and Derek killed him and now he’s a werewolf,” said Allison through a grin, bumping Jackson’s arm with her own.

“And then I was possessed by a Nogitsune,” said Stiles with a shudder.

“That my mom had accidentally called forth in 1943,” supplied Kira shyly from next to Malia.

“Unfortunately, an agent of the Nogitsune killed me,” said Allison with a dry click of her tongue.

“How many of you have died?” Marcy gasped.

“Most of us,” replied Boyd. “I did too.”

Derek raised his hand. “That one was me.”

“So have I,” offered Erica.

“Not me,” chimed in Derek again.

Talia pinched the bridge of her nose at her pack’s antics, but Stiles could see her trying to bite back a smile.

“And what about you, dear?” Marcy asked Malia, hoping for a normal explanation.

“I was a coyote for a while in the woods until Scott roared and turned me back into a human. Then we found out I was Peter’s illegitimate child, which is still weird,” Malia said dryly. “I’ve never died, though. So that’s something.”

Marcy looked like she was about to faint, so Talia swooped in to save her. “Anyway, we’re going to go explore the convention center a little bit. It was great to see you, Marcy.”

Marcy just nodded and went to hide behind the check-in desk, shaking her head as she fell into a chair. 

Talia turned towards her pack and shined her eyes at them. The wolves whined and the humans ducked their heads. She let her eyes bleed back to brown and spared them a smirk before they started up the stairs.

At the top of the stairs, they were met by the last person Stiles wanted to see.

“Ah, Talia,” Deucalion drawled. “It is a pleasure to see you again.”

Talia nodded in acknowledgement, but made no move to greet him further. 

“Now that the niceties are out of the way, there’s something you should know,” Deucalion continued. “Kate is in D.C.”


	15. Preliminary pacts

“Is she attending the convention?” Asked Talia brusquely. 

Deucalion shook his head. “Even Kate isn’t that bold. You’re safe as long as you’re in the convention center.”

Stiles stepped out from behind Boyd. “Is she alone?”

“Ah, Stiles,” purred Deucalion, eliciting a low growl from Derek. “So nice to put a face to the voice.”

Stiles rolled his eyes and repeated his question, ignoring the posturing going on around him.

“She is not alone,” Deucalion conceded, smirking at Derek briefly before turning his attention back to Stiles. “There is a witch with her, at least. I am not certain about her company other than that.”

“And how is it that you know this?” Talia asked coldly, shining her red eyes at Deucalion. 

Derek and Isaac stepped forward to flank her.

Deucalion smiled at the sight. “Talia, please. What reason have I given you not to trust me?”

A loud growl made its way from the back of the pack. Boyd and Erica stepped forward, staying behind Talia. Their eyes were both beta gold.

“Ah, yes. Boyd and Erica, right?” Deucalion’s smile was gone as he took in the sight of the two members of the pack whose deaths he had directly caused. “I believe I owe the two of you an apology.”

Erica leaned forward, enraged, but Boyd held her back with a hand on her shoulder. “Helping us defeat Kate would be a good start,” he told Deucalion diplomatically.

He tipped his head at Boyd and turned his attention back to Talia. “I may not have been entirely upfront with Stiles the other day when I told him I had declined Kate’s offer. She called me this morning when she arrived in D.C. to ask if I had made a decision about joining her. I told her I hadn’t.”

Stiles rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “Of course not,” he muttered.

“You’ll keep us updated if you hear more,” Talia told him more than asked him.

“Of course,” he replied, inclining his head once more before he walked away.

The wolves let their eyes bleed back to their normal colors and took a collective breath. Derek gripped the back of Boyd and Erica’s necks reassuringly, smiling when they visibly relaxed under his grasp.

“Alright, everyone,” said Talia softly, her eyes doing a mental check of her pack. “Let’s try and enjoy the convention. No one goes anywhere alone. If we split up at all, take at least two people with you.”

“I call not being the one who has to third-wheel Peter and Dom,” offered Erica, raising her hand.

After a chorus of “not it’s” from the pack, Allison was left to accompany the two while they wandered off to the lower floor of the convention center to check out the panels offered there.

Cora, Jackson, and Lydia headed into the main area upstairs for the panel on supernaturals with multiple mates, while Erica and Boyd took Kira to a special panel dedicated to kitsunes. 

Marcy had been able to pull a few strings and adjust the panel on full shifting werewolves to include all supernatural creatures who could achieve full shift, so Malia would be able to attend. That panel was on the middle level, so the two of them took the stairs back down towards the entrance.

When everyone had split off, leaving Stiles, Derek, and Isaac upstairs, Stiles took a second to check his spark and make sure the GPS lanyards were working. When he was able to confirm that they were, he and the other two walked over to an information desk to check out the brochures and see which panel they wanted to attend first.

They had agreed to go to a panel on inter-pack relations, which they figured would be a good one for an Alpha, an emissary, and someone who was dating a member of the Fae royal family to attend.

They had an hour before it started, so the three of them wandered around the convention center while they waited. 

“Derek?” Came a voice from behind them. 

The three turned around to find a young woman around Derek’s age. She had long blonde hair that fell in ringlets around her face, and dark green eyes.

“Cassie?” Said Derek incredulously.

They walked towards one another and hugged briefly. When they parted, Cassie kept her hands on Derek’s shoulders. She leaned back and whistled. “Damn, Der, you grew up good.”

Stiles squinted at this new girl, and walked forward to introduce himself. “Hi, I’m Stiles,” he offered, extending his hand for her to shake. “Hale Pack emissary.”

Cassie let her gaze linger on Derek for a few more seconds before releasing him and grasping Stiles’ hand. Her nostrils flared as she took in his scent and her grip tightened slightly.

“Cassie,” she said with a sigh before turning her attention back to Derek. “I didn’t know you’d found a mate, Derek.”

Derek smiled proudly and draped his arm around Stiles. “Yes, I have. This is my beta, Isaac,” he continued, changing the subject seamlessly. “Cassie’s dad and my mom were friends growing up. Our packs used to visit each other quite often when we were young.” 

Cassie and Isaac exchanged pleasantries while Derek leaned in and pressed his mouth to Stiles’ ear. “Jealousy is a good smell on you, but she’s just an old friend.”

Stiles shivered at the closeness, but relaxed at Derek’s words. He nodded and pressed a kiss to Derek’s lips before they joined Cassie and Isaac’s conversation.

They learned from Cassie and Derek that she was part of the Warwick Pack in Oklahoma. Sensing an opportunity to gain a powerful ally, the three invited Cassie to join them for coffee before they had to head into the panel.

Their conversation went well. Cassie was the Alpha’s daughter and second, so she had the authority to broker a preliminary pact.

Stiles texted Talia to let her know of the new development, and went off to the inter-pack relations panel feeling a little lighter.

The panel itself was held in one of the larger conference rooms in the convention center. Attendees were split up into groups based on rank and species. 

Stiles was surprised to find three other emissaries attending the panel, and took the time to bombard them with questions, since he was still relatively new to the emissary game.

One of them looked at Stiles as if he smelled like old cheese, another grew tired of his questions after the first few minutes, but the third, Wendell Douglas of the Kline Pack in Maine, had taken a liking to Stiles and his quirkiness.

The two partnered up for the panel and by the end of the hour, had gotten so lost in conversation that they had to be ushered out of the conference room so the site director could set up for the next event. 

They exited the conference room laughing at a joke Wendell had made, and almost ran into Derek, who had been waiting outside with Isaac. 

“Guys, this is Wendell Douglas,” Stiles offered through a laugh. 

Wendell shook Isaac’s hand and inclined his head respectfully at Derek, which was the greeting they had just learned in the panel. Derek smiled at the formality and took a more thorough look at his mate’s new friend.

Wendell looked to be in his late 50’s, with dark grey hair and a short beard. His laugh lines blended into his wrinkles, and his eyes looked like they were smiling even when Wendell wasn’t speaking.

As was the case with Cassie, Wendell had the authority to offer a tentative pact with the Hale Pack. They exchanged contact information and planned to meet the next day for lunch with Wendell’s Alpha and Talia and Derek.

Figuring it would be a good idea to hook back up with the rest of the pack, Stiles tapped into his spark to locate everyone and led Derek downstairs where the rest seemed to have congregated.

Isaac was so busy texting Pahn to apologize for all the faux pas he had committed during their relationship (according to the panel), that Derek had to hold his elbow for the whole walk down the stairs and through the middle floor so he wouldn’t run into anything.

Derek gave Isaac to Erica, Boyd, and Kira when they all reunited, who promptly agreed with Pahn that Isaac was being ridiculous and adorable, and went with Stiles to give Talia an update.

Talia and Peter had both been successful in brokering tentative ally pacts as well. Peter less so than Talia, since he was accompanied by an Argent.

By the time they were all done comparing notes, they had seven packs from around the country who had expressed interest in meeting with them.

The betas split off to get details from Cora, Jackson, and Lydia on their mating panel, while Stiles stayed back with Derek, Talia, Dom, and Peter. 

There was a palpable sense of relief radiating off of all of the pack members after the day’s successes. 

Stiles, however, frowned.

“What’s wrong,” Peter asked with a frown of his own.

Stiles attempted a half-smile and failed. “You feel it too, don’t you?”

Peter nodded somberly. 

“Feel what?” Asked Talia, looking back and forth between the two of them. 

Dom rested his arm across Peter’s shoulders, regarding him with concern.

“I don’t know,” Stiles offered, grabbing Derek’s hand to anchor himself. “It just kind of feels like…” He trailed off and looked at Peter to see if he could describe the pit in his stomach.

Peter nodded in understanding. “Like we’re building an army.”


	16. An excellent accomplishment

The pack split up for the rest of the afternoon, attending panels and making friends. When the convention closed for the night, they all retreated to their rooms to change and freshen up before dinner.

Stiles got out of the shower and saw Derek with his laptop open on the desk. He could hear Ana’s voice over Skype and smiled at the look of adoration on Derek’s face.

“… and then, I went back to grandma and grandpas and Grandpa Sheriff let me play with the magnets on the fridge,” she was telling Derek excitedly.

Derek nodded encouragingly. “And then what?”

Stiles moved to stand behind him, leaning forward to see Ana. 

“Hi, Stiles!” She said before continuing as if there had been no interruption. “And then I concentrated real hard and changed the po… the…” She looked up to someone off screen and Stiles could just barely hear his mother’s voice in the background.

“The polarity, sweetheart.”

Ana nodded excitedly. “Uh huh, the parity of the magnets and they all fell off the fridge!”

Stiles kissed Derek’s temple and left him to finish talking to Ana while he got ready for dinner.

Dinner was a somewhat subdued affair. The pack was still running on adrenaline from the excitement of the convention, but there was an almost palpable sense of anticipation now that they knew Kate was in the area.

Isaac was plastered to Stiles’ side throughout the meal, which had been part of their plan with Talia. To Stiles surprise, Boyd and Erica both stayed close and alert as well. 

Stiles and Isaac had a conversation solely with their eyebrows, after which Stiles was sure Boyd and Erica had been let in on the plan without his knowledge.

Stiles sighed and patted Isaac on the back. Isaac meant well, but Stiles was still concerned that the more people who knew about the plan, the less effective it would be when the time came to enact it.

As Derek and Stiles fell into bed, Stiles could tell it was going to be a little spoon kind of night. Most of the time, Derek loved to be the little spoon. He craved the protected feeling of being encased in Stiles’ arms. No one could touch him there.

That night, Derek had been especially restless, so Stiles knew he would want to wrap Stiles up like he was never letting go.

“There’s something you’re not telling me, right?” Derek whispered into the back of Stiles’ neck.

Stiles thought about not answering, but the pit in his stomach grew heavier with each passing second. “Yeah,” he cleared his throat. “Yes, there is.”

Derek lowered his head and pressed his forehead to Stiles’ shoulder blades. “Does it have something to do with why Isaac never left your side at dinner?”

Stiles just nodded, not wanting to give anything away by speaking.

“And you’ll tell me when I need to know?”

Stiles nodded again.

“Ok,” Derek breathed after a minute. He kissed his way up Stiles’ spine and nuzzled the hairs at the back of Stiles’ neck.

Stiles shuddered and tightened his grip on Derek’s forearm. “I love you,” he told the man with a shaky voice.

“I love you too,” Derek assured him.

The next morning at breakfast, the pack worked out how to split up the day over bacon. It was decided that Talia, Derek, Stiles, Isaac, Lydia, and Allison would attend the meetings they had set up throughout the day with potential allies, and Peter and Dom would be in charge of overseeing Cora, Jackson, Erica, Boyd, Kira, and Malia at the convention.

Talia had decided to post up on the main floor at a table by the convention’s coffee shop. 

Their first meeting of the day was with Marcy, Talia’s friend from Idaho. She was the Alpha of the largest pack in the state, and had already pledged her allegiance to the Hale pack. The meeting was more of a formality than anything else, and lasted only half an hour.

“If the rest of them go like that, we should be fine,” Talia whispered to Stiles with a wink.

Next up was coffee with Cassie. She was accompanied by her father, Dave Warwick, who was the Alpha of their pack in Oklahoma, and their emissary. 

Dave greeted Talia with a warm hug, and wasted no time in letting her know that she and her pack had the full support of the Warwick pack. 

Apparently, word had gotten out to a few of the more powerful Alphas about a possible situation arising for the Hale pack, so he was preliminarily apprised of the situation.

Stiles took notes furiously during their meeting, as Dave and Talia recounted the details of their families’ previous alliance.

There was a short break after Cassie, Dave, and their emissary, Sarah, left, allowing everyone to take a deep breath of relief at the morning’s success.

Stiles stood up when he saw Wendell approach the table. They embraced like old friends and separated with twin smiles. 

“Allow me to introduce Alpha Talia Hale, Alpha Derek Hale, and Stiles Stilinski, of the Hale pack in California,” Wendell told the strapping young man to his left and the older, sharper looking woman to his right.

“Patricia Kline,” offered the woman, turning her discerning gaze on Talia and Derek. “This is my second, Jeremy Kassabian.” She gestured to the young werewolf.

After pleasantries had been exchanged, they got down to business. 

Talia briefly explained the situation and gave a surface-level rundown of the makeup of their pack. Patricia remained silent throughout, and considered the alliance offer silently for a few moments after Talia had finished speaking.

She looked to her left at Jeremy, who nodded firmly, then right at Wendell, who nodded as well.

Turning her gaze back to Talia, she sat up straight. “While there is no denying the current Hale pack has acquired a reputation as a force to be reckoned with, I similarly cannot deny that I have reservations about entering into an alliance with a pack that includes hunters.”

Since they were all ready for that response, Talia and Derek looked towards Allison.

Allison inclined her head respectfully. “Alpha Kline, it’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Allison Argent, member of the Hale pack of Beacon Hills, and head of the Argent hunting family.” Allison paused in case Patricia felt the need to interject.

When she didn’t, Allison continued. “I make no excuses for the crimes my family has committed against the supernatural community, or for the crimes I, myself, have committed in the past.”

Allison took a deep breath, but did not flinch when Patricia’s eyes glowed red. “I can tell that you are someone who values actions over words. However, words are all I have right now. I can assure you that no harm will come to you or your pack at the hands of an Argent, or any hunter with which we are allied. That is not our way anymore.”

Lydia reached out and placed a hand on Allison’s arm. Looking at Patricia, she offered, “If it is actions you want, you should know that Allison died for our pack. For me, a banshee.”

“And for me,” Stiles added, “When I was possessed by a Nogitsune. Her actions and the actions of her father speak volumes about their loyalty.”

Patricia considered the three of them sharply. Allowing her eyes to lose their glow, she turned her attention back to Talia and Derek and nodded. “Very well. I will discuss the matter with my second and emissary and will be in touch within 24 hours.”

Talia and Derek stood, shaking her hand before she walked away with her entourage.

The meetings after that were decidedly less exciting. One Alpha mate, Samuel Baker of the Rojas pack in Arizona, had convinced his mate to ally their pack with the Hales because he was so excited to meet Stiles.

The Rojas pack was small, but fierce, and Talia took a liking to Samuel right away.

Carolyn Webb, Alpha of the Webb pack in Virginia, agreed to ally her pack with them as well. She had known Peter, biblically, back in the day, and was eager to “Get on the right side of the fight.”

Kevin Bailey, who had met with Peter the day before, was the emissary of the Stevenson pack in Oregon. He and his Alpha, Charlotte, were old allies of the Hales from before the fire, and wasted no time in renewing their alliance.

“So that’s the Davis pack, the Warwick pack, the Rojas pack, the Webb pack, and the Stevenson pack who are all in the yes column, right?” Stiles asked the table as he checked off their names on his notepad.

Lydia nodded. “And the Kline pack will be getting back to us later today.”

“What does that leave us for now?” Derek asked wearily, rubbing his hand over his stubble and leaning back into his chair. 

Talia frowned as she took in the sight of the people approaching the table. “The Torres pack.”

Taking a cue from their Alpha, the rest of the table sat up straighter in their chairs, giving the Torres representatives their full and undivided attention.

“Racquel,” Talia greeted the woman in the front of the group.

“Talia,” Racquel replied coolly.

Talia raised her hand to gesture towards Derek and introduce the rest of the pack, before she was interrupted.

“No need, Talia,” said Racquel. “I know who you all are. I won’t be staying long, as I only came to tell you that we have been warned against an alliance with your pack.”

A low growl escaped Derek’s throat. Stiles reached under the table and grabbed his hand before things could escalate further.

“Is that so?” Queried Talia coldly, allowing her eyes to glow red.

Racquel simply nodded once. “I do not wish to have to Hale pack as my enemy, nor do I wish for the threat you face to become an enemy of mine. My pack wishes to live in peace, and will take no part in this fight.”

With that, she and her pack turned and walked away.

After a tense moment of silence, Talia stood. The rest of the pack followed suit and silently trailed Talia up the stairs to the hallway on the top floor of the convention center. 

Talia closed her eyes and when she opened them, they were back to brown. “Five allied packs is an excellent accomplishment. I am very proud of you all.” She took a moment to look each of them in the eye.

Derek walked around towards Allison and put an arm around her shoulders. “You did great today,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

She sighed and leaned into the contact, closing her eyes briefly.

“Alrighty,” said Stiles, clapping his hands and rubbing them together. “Who wants to check out the panel on ancient werewolf mating rituals?”


	17. Too risky

“I’m not kidding, Derek, that guy was a vampire!” Stiles screeched while unbuckling his belt that night. They only had about fifteen minutes before their reservation to change and freshen up.

Derek sighed, taking off his shirt in one smooth motion. “There’s no such thing as vampires, Stiles.” He picked up another shirt off the bed and pulled it on.

Stiles shook his head vehemently. “I’m telling you, he was so pale, there’s nothing else he could have been. Hah!” He turned around after stepping out of his pants that had pooled at his feet to find Derek looking down at his torso, wondering when it had expanded. The shirt in question was a size too small.

Stiles looked around and picked up another shirt from the bed and tossed it over to his wolf. 

Derek pulled off the smaller shirt and threw it to Stiles, who caught it deftly before putting it on himself.

“Just because he was pale?” Derek quirked his eyebrow and puffed in adorable satisfaction once the correct shirt was finally in place on his body. 

Stiles pouted. “You don’t get it. He was SO pale. Like, the palest.”

They continued getting ready and arguing about the existence of vampires until Stiles’ phone pinged.

Derek flopped onto the bed and stretched with a groan, scratching idly at the patch of stomach left uncovered when his shirt rode up. Stiles crossed the room and picked up his phone to look at the screen.

“Who is it?” Derek asked through a yawn.

Stiles frowned down at the number. “Not a number I recognize. It just says ‘we need to meet.’”

Derek sat up, alert. “Is that all it says?”

Stiles nodded, thumbs working furiously on a response. Derek had whipped out his own phone and was dialing his mother.

“She says her name is Claire,” Stiles reported to Derek, who had Talia on speaker. He looked back down at the new text he just received. “She’s the emissary for the Torres pack.”

“Stiles, does she say why she wants to meet?” Talia asked through the phone.

He shot off a text asking for more information, but huffed in frustration at her response. “She won’t say. She just says we need to meet outside the back entrance of the convention center, and that I need to come alone.”

“No,” said Derek immediately. 

“I agree, that’s too risky,” Talia added. 

Stiles bit his lip. “Do you think she might have information about Kate? I mean, who else would have warned the Torres pack not to agree to an alliance with us? Maybe Claire has spoken with her.”

Derek shook his head. “I don’t care if she has Kate hog tied in the back of a truck and wants to give you her unconscious body, you’re not going to meet the emissary of a hostile pack all by yourself.”

Stiles smiled a little at the hyperbole, but conceded that Derek might be right. There was a nagging feeling in the back of his head that prompted him to suggest an alternative. “What if I bring one of the betas?”

There was a pause before Talia spoke up. “That might work. She would likely be spooked by an Alpha, but if you brought Peter with you…”

“I don’t think she’ll talk to me if I bring a Hale. She seems pretty skittish,” Stiles hedged. “What about Isaac? He’s Scott’s second and can be pretty good at appearing unassuming when he needs to.”

Derek squinted at Stiles suspiciously at the mention of Isaac. 

“I’ll call him now,” Stiles said before anyone could object. 

Derek sent off a text on his phone, but made sure to angle it away from Stiles.

“He’s on his way,” Stiles told Derek, taking a step towards him. “I – ”

He was cut off by a knock on the door. Stiles deflated a bit at being interrupted, but stalked over to let Talia in. Isaac came running down the hall and entered behind her.

Five minutes later, they had a plan. Stiles would walk around from the front, so Claire could see him easily. Isaac would already be standing around the corner, waiting for a signal, which was pretty much Stiles screaming. 

Derek, Talia, and Peter agreed to keep their distance, but Derek insisted that they still be within hearing range.

Stiles looked curiously at Derek’s phone when it pinged with an incoming text. Derek sighed in relief, but schooled his face quickly after reading the message. 

They got into position and Stiles started walking towards the back entrance with a pit in his stomach. He could see the silhouette of a young woman standing under a lone streetlight. 

“Claire?” He called out as he approached. The woman looked up and whipped her head around wildly, looking for Stiles. 

She stepped out from under the light towards him. “I – thank you for agreeing to meet with me.” She looked around nervously a few times before meeting Stiles’ eyes.

“Of course,” he replied genially. “Has your pack reconsidered our offer?”

Claire swallowed and looked down at her watch. “Um, well, no. We haven’t. I just – I was just…”

Stiles exhaled in resignation. “Oh, Claire. What have you done?”

Claire barely had time to look up at him, face screwed up in contrition and fear, before Stiles heard the squeal of tires from across the street. “Isaac, now!” Stiles screamed, pulling his spark to his fingertips.

He could only just make out a hand being thrust out the approaching van’s window before he felt a burst of air hit his chest, knocking the wind out of him.

Stiles heard Isaac snarl and Claire shout as she was thrown into the brick wall of the convention center. 

He knew Derek, Talia, and Peter had to be on their way, running as fast as they could.

He heard the whoosh of an arrow and heard a soft “oh,” as it found its mark through the open window. Stiles looked up to the rooftop and saw Allison dressed all in black, knocking a second arrow. He allowed himself a smile – of course she was Derek’s backup.

Stiles found his breath and made to stand up, keeping his eye on the van that had just pulled to a stop in front of him, when something knocked him to the ground from behind. The van’s door slid open and Stiles heard Isaac run towards it to attack its occupants. 

There was a struggle and even in his hazy state on the ground, Stiles could see three people – at least one werewolf if the glowing blue eyes were any indication – overpower Isaac and pull him into the van. 

Stiles could hear Derek roaring from a few hundred feet away, but knew he would never make it in time. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered towards Derek’s hastily approaching frame as he was hoisted up by his arms and feet. The last thing he registered before the world went black was the cold, inhuman sneer of Kate Argent at the wheel.


	18. Kate really sucks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See end note for possible trigger warning.

The room was cold. There was a faint buzzing in his ears, and his head felt like it was going to explode, but the first thing that Stiles registered was that the room was cold.

He waited to open his eyes for a moment to see if he could hear anything first, without giving away the fact that he was awake. He could hear the whir of an air conditioning unit nearby, and the faint echo of a drip – like a leaking pipe slowly spilling onto a concrete floor.

Stiles frowned when he realized he couldn’t hear anything else, so with a sigh, he opened his eyes. He was bound to a chair in the middle of a nearly-bare room.

There was a doorway off to the right, up a small flight of stairs, and Stiles could see a pile of boxes in the corner of the room. 

He pulled experimentally on his bonds, but stopped when he felt the sting of handcuffs digging into his wrist. Looking down at his feet, Stiles was somewhat relieved to see that they were unbound. Maybe he could get a good kick in before they realized that was a mistake.

Stiles closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. He concentrated on his spark and made to bring it to his fingertips before realizing he felt nothing.

Trying not to panic, Stiles looked inward again. 

Nothing.

There was nothing.

No spark.

Stiles’ breaths came in quick spurts. He tried to breathe in through his nose and out through his mouth, but his panic quickly overtook him and he was left gasping for air.

“Stiles?” The sound of his name coming from somewhere in the room was enough to startle him into a single deep breath while he whipped his head around.

After a few seconds of deep breathing, he had enough control to respond. “Who’s there?” he rasped.

Stiles heard a groan before the response. “It’s Isaac. Are you hurt?”

“Isaac?” Stiles frowned. “I can’t see you. Are you behind the boxes?”

“Yeah, I’m chained to a hook in the wall.” Stiles heard the rattle of chains as Isaac tried in vain to break free.

“Wolfsbane?”

“Yup. Kate really sucks.”

Stiles huffed a laugh and hummed in agreement.

It was quiet in the room for a few minutes, before Stiles heard Isaac sigh. “Stiles, are you ready for this?”

“No,” he whispered, ducking his head. “But we don’t have a choice. I should really be asking if you’re ready for this.”

“I trust you,” Isaac responded simply, eliciting a burst of pride in Stiles’ chest for his brave friend.

There was a metallic clang as the door at the top of the stairs was opened. Stiles did his best to look bored at the predicament, cocking his head to the side and raising an eyebrow.

“You really think our pack isn’t going to find us?” He asked whichever captor had paused in the darkened doorway. 

“Oh, honey,” came the sickly sweet sound of Kate Argent’s voice as she stalked down the stairs. “I’m counting on it.”

“But first,” she continued, coming to a stop in front of Stiles. “I’m going to have a little fun with the two of you.”

Stiles grimaced in disgust. “That was creepy. Isaac,” he turned his head to Isaac, ignoring Kate. “Did that sound creepy to you?”

“Super creepy,” came Isaac’s reply from behind the boxes.

“And vaguely rape-y.” Stiles donned a faux-concerned look. “You don’t still have a thing for teenage boys, do you?”

Kate responded with a slap to Stiles’ face. The resulting smack echoed loudly in the now-silent room.

Stiles spit blood onto the floor and ran his tongue over his teeth and lips to assess the damage, which was thankfully minimal.

“So I guess we’re done with the witty banter portion of our evening,” Stiles sneered. “Why don’t you just tell us what you want?”

Kate grabbed Stiles’ jaw between her fingers, letting her claws rake across his cheeks. “Sweetie, there are a lot of things I want that you can’t give me.”

“And let’s both take a second to be thankful for that,” he spat back. “Stop wasting my time.”

She tightened her grip on Stiles’ face, nails piercing his skin enough to draw blood from his cheeks. She let go and walked around towards the boxes hiding Isaac. 

Kicking them to the side, Kate purred, “I want Derek Hale to suffer.”

Stiles clicked his tongue and looked to the side as if wracking his brain. “Hale, you say? Never heard of him.”

Kate responded by kicking Isaac squarely in the face. Stiles fought against his restraints, even when Isaac was able to sit back up. 

Even from ten feet away, Stiles could tell Isaac wasn’t healing. The split lip was still an open wound, though thankfully it wasn’t actively bleeding. 

“What’s the matter, Stiles?” Kate turned to face him with victory in her eyes. “Don’t like to see your dog kicked?”

They locked eyes for several moments while Stiles worked out his best approach in his head. Clearly, unaffected wasn’t working on her. He couldn’t overpower her with his spark gone. And he had no idea if the plan he had concocted with Isaac and Talia would work without his magic.

“I’m going to take great pleasure in watching you die,” he told her coldly, without blinking.

Kate seemed slightly taken aback by the declaration, but schooled her face back into passivity. 

“You’ll never be able to kill Derek,” Isaac promised Kate. “He’s too strong. And even if he wasn’t, he’s got us and the pack.”

Kate rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “God, you’re lucky you’re pretty. I don’t want to kill Derek, I want to destroy him.”

Stiles and Isaac both fought against their restraints. Stiles could feel the blood dripping down his forearms, but he didn’t care. 

“Now, here’s what’s going to happen,” said Kate cheerily, rubbing her hands together and all but dancing towards a dark area of the room Stiles hadn’t noticed earlier. 

“You’re going to tell my new friend Graham,” she nodded towards the man who had just appeared in the doorway, “everything you know about your pack and the wards guarding them.” Her now-blunt fingernail traced up and down a light switch as she spoke.

“And if I don’t?” Stiles countered defiantly.

Kate grinned, showing her fangs. “Then we’re going to have to reunite you with an old, old friend of yours.”

She flicked on the light to reveal a single table with a small wooden object sitting on top of it.

It was the Nogitsune box.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING - casual mention of rape (Stiles references Kate's sexual assault of teenage Derek, and calls her actions 'rape-y')


	19. Wait and see

Stiles could hear Isaac screaming and fighting against his restraints, trying to escape. He vaguely registered the click of Kate’s shoes on the concrete as she waltzed victoriously up the stairs and out of the room after the big reveal.

Nothing else registered. He couldn’t feel the bite of the handcuffs on his wrists, or the split lip that had been throbbing only seconds before. Stiles’ vision tunneled and soon he could only see the box sitting innocently on the table.

The box containing the root of his nightmares.

Stiles closed his eyes and willed himself to believe that their plan would work. Even without his magic, the plan would work. Right?

Before Stiles could count three deep breaths, Kate’s minion was upon him. He dragged a metal chair over to Stiles and sat down, facing him.

“Tell me which pack members you left behind to guard Beacon Hills.”

Stiles snorted and rolled his eyes, suddenly full of false bravado.

Graham, as Kate had called him, was an entirely ordinary-looking man in his early thirties, who Stiles wouldn’t even think twice about if it weren’t for his bulging muscles. 

There was blood on his shirt surrounding a small rip that made Stiles smile. 

“Ally got you good, huh?” He teased, nodding at the now-closed wound.

Graham growled and flashed blue eyes at Stiles. “Answer the question,” he demanded.

Stiles looked around the room incredulously. “That’s really your first question, though? I mean, can’t Kate figure that out just by looking at who we brought with us here? Are you all seriously that incompetent?”

Graham growled again, but frowned when Stiles laughed in his face.

“Dude, I’m part of a werewolf pack. Do you really think a little growling is going to scare me?”

The man responded by punching him in the gut. Stiles bent forward as much as he could given his restraints and winced.

“I also train with werewolves. You think I can’t take a hit?” He goaded.

“Stiles,” Isaac whined from his corner. “Don’t.”

Stiles prepared for the next blow, but it never came.

Instead, when Stiles opened his eyes and looked up at Graham, he found the werewolf standing with his hands on his hips, grinning.

This, more than anything else that had happened so far, unnerved him.

“You know,” the wolf whispered in a deadly quiet voice, “She said if you don’t cooperate, I’m supposed to open that box over there.” He nodded towards the Nogitsune box.

Stiles swallowed dryly. “I’m not going to tell you anything that might hurt my pack. I’m just not.”

Graham raised his eyebrows and fixed Stiles with a disbelieving look. 

Changing tactics, Graham walked over to where Isaac was sitting shackled against the wall. He looked at Stiles pointedly and punched Isaac square in the jaw.

It took everything Stiles had not to flinch and cry out for him to stop. He knew any reaction from him would only make things worse for Isaac. 

Graham frowned and looked back and forth between the two of them. He shook his head and jogged up the stairs, closing the door behind him with a loud bang. 

“Stiles,” Isaac whispered urgently. “They’re going to come back and open the box. We don’t know what’ll happen – you don’t have your magic – our plan might not work!”

Stiles closed his eyes and willed himself to stop trembling. “I know,” he conceded quietly. “But we don’t have any other choice. Neither one of us is going to tell them anything about the pack. So it’s either this, or they kill us.”

“No,” argued Isaac firmly. “They’ll find us. Derek will find us. We just have to keep them occupied until the pack gets here.”

Stiles looked up from his lap to find Isaac’s eyes. He tried to smile, but failed. “They’ve got Alyssa, Isaac. There’s no way this place isn’t warded. They won’t be able to get in, even if they could find us.”

Isaac slumped against the wall. “I’m so sorry, Stiles.”

He shook his head. “Don’t do that, Isaac. It was a good plan. Just – promise me something?”

“Anything,” Isaac responded immediately. 

Stiles closed his eyes as tears started to fall down his face. “Don’t let me hurt anyone again.”

Before Isaac could reply, Kate reappeared. Isaac snarled when he saw that Alyssa was trailing her down the stairs. 

Alyssa walked straight up to Stiles and held her hand out as if to touch his face. Stiles took this opportunity to utilize his unbound legs, and kicked out at her stomach.

She doubled over in pain, which gave Stiles a moment of satisfaction. 

Kate laughed from her position by the table and muttered, “I told the idiots to bind his legs.”

Alyssa just fixed Stiles with a murderous look and walked around him to approach him from behind. She placed her hands on either side of his face and murmured an incantation.

Before Stiles could ask what she was doing, he felt his wounds heal.

Confused, Stiles looked between Alyssa and Kate with a frown. “What was that for?”

Kate grinned predatorily. “We don’t want your future houseguest to be uncomfortable, now do we?”

Stiles shook his head rapidly, pulling on the handcuffs. “No, no Kate, don’t do this to me.”

She raised one eyebrow. “Does that mean you’ll talk?” She took in Stiles’ defiant glare and chuckled sardonically. “No, of course you won’t.”

She rolled her eyes and picked up the box, muttering to herself about misplaced loyalty. 

Alyssa removed the handcuffs, but held Stiles still in his seat with a wave of her hand.

Isaac was growling and screaming, pulling futilely against his restraints as Kate stalked towards Stiles with the box in her hands.

She stopped about a foot from him and looked at Stiles’ face, eyes trailing the tracks his tears had been making on his cheeks. 

“Last chance, Stiles,” she purred. “Tell me what I want to know, and you can save yourself all this pain.”

Stiles spat in her face.

“Fine,” she yelled with fire in her eyes. “You’ve made your choice.”

Kate turned the lid of the box once, then twice, before removing it altogether. 

Stiles wanted to close his eyes. He didn’t want to see the fly that immediately flew for freedom once the lid was gone. He didn’t want to see it coming towards him, seeking out its long lost host.

But he couldn’t. Stiles saw everything.

The fly made a beeline for Stiles’ mouth. He tried to clamp it closed, but Alyssa forced it open. Stiles felt it slide down his throat and with a jolt, realized there was nothing he could do but wait and see what would happen next.


	20. POV Isaac

There was blood running down his arms, but he couldn’t care less about that. The chains and wolfsbane binding him to the wall were cutting into his wrists, making him weak. But he didn’t care about that either.

The only thing Isaac could bring himself to focus on was the look in Stiles’ eyes when the fly went down his throat.

Please let it work, please let it work, please let it work. Isaac repeated the phrase in his head like a prayer.

He saw the moment the light in Stiles’ eyes went dark.

“No,” Isaac rasped, his voice hoarse from screaming. “No, no, no, no Stiles! Stiles!” He pulled against his restraints, trying desperately to get to his friend.

The restraints held. Isaac slumped against the wall, eyes glassy with defeat.

Stil – no, that thing wasn’t Stiles. It. It looked at Isaac curiously, tilting its head and turning its lifeless eyes towards the wolf. Isaac, seeing no trace of his friend in the sneer pointed his way, doubled over and vomited onto the cold concrete.

It turned away from Isaac with an uninterested look on its face. When Isaac righted himself, he could see it extend Stiles’ hands experimentally, smiling as it flexed Stiles’ fingers.

“Hmm,” it hummed thoughtfully. “I see this body had been improved since I was last here. It feels more powerful.” It smirked at Kate, then pouted insincerely. 

“What,” it said innocently to the victorious-looking woman. “I’m late to the party and suddenly all the fun treats are gone?”

Kate looked Stiles’ body up and down in consideration. With a nod, she instructed Alyssa to give the Nogitsune the magic they had stolen from Stiles.

“No, you can’t!” Isaac protested with all the strength he had left.

They ignored him as if he hadn’t spoken.

Alyssa took a step towards Stiles – not Stiles – it. A step towards it apprehensively, but raised her hand. With a whoosh that blew through Isaac’s hair even from across the room, the magic was returned to Stiles’ body.

It grinned at Alyssa, shuddering with the return of its power, and grabbed her by the neck.

She clawed uselessly at the hand around her throat, while trying desperately to suck in a breath of air.

Alyssa looked imploringly at Kate, silently begging her to do something.

Isaac’s eyes opened wide in shock, but he couldn’t bring himself to look away. He clasped his hands together firmly when he realized they were trembling, but the rest of his body was still.

Its grin turned into a smirk as it twisted the hand grasping Alyssa, snapping her neck. He released her and watched with interest as she collapsed onto the floor, dead.

“What was that for?” Kate demanded warily. Isaac hoped for a second that it would kill Kate next, but shuddered at the thought of what would happen to him if he was left alone with the Nogitsune.

It rubbed its hands together, the action forming sparks around its knuckles. “Just stretching my legs,” he dismissed airily. “I’ve never had a spark’s power before.” He looked off to the side thoughtfully. “I think I’m going to enjoy it.”

“Now,” he placed his hands on his hips and turned to face Kate, looking very much like a parent who had just caught their kid breaking curfew. “Not that I’m complaining, but do you care to explain to me exactly why I have been released?”

Kate swallowed nervously before responding. “I want you to help me destroy the Hale pack.”

It raised a single eyebrow in reply, waiting silently for Kate to continue. The action was so very Stiles that Isaac had to look away. He whined softly, but stopped when the sound caused them both to look his way with annoyance.

“They beat you,” Kate continued, gaining confidence with every word. “They put you in that box, contained you when you should have been roaming freely.”

“And you think I should help you?” It asked, deadly quiet.

Kate leaned back, all confidence gone. The blank, soulless look on its face was enough to force Kate into silence.

It took a step forward, so only a few feet separated the two. Isaac held his breath, not wanting to give either of them any excuse to turn their attention to him in this tense moment.

One more step forward put them within touching distance. It lifted one of Stiles’ hands and raked a blunt nail down Kate’s face, from forehead to chin. Kate was trembling with fear.

“I think you mean you’ll help me,” it threatened with a flash of murder in its eyes.

Kate nodded rapidly. “Of – of course. I’ll help you. That’s what I meant.”

It smiled slowly, pulling back with a single nod. “Very well.” It turned his head left and right, cracking its neck. “Stiles’ memories are coming back to me quite slowly, so why don’t you start by telling me what you know so far?”

She obliged hastily, telling him all about kidnapping Deaton, breaking out Alyssa, recruiting a few wayward betas. When she got to the part about the man she had sent to do recon on the pack in Beacon Hills, it stopped her with the raise of its hand.

“How did you manage that? The memory of Stiles’ wards tells me it would be nearly impossible for a werewolf to enter their land without them knowing.”

Kate sneered triumphantly. “He’s human.”

It took a second to allow Kate a begrudgingly impressed look, before gesturing for her to continue the story.

Isaac breathed a silent sigh of relief when Kate confirmed that Deaton was still alive.

Again, it stopped her by holding up a single finger. “Let me get this straight. You have – had – one witch, two beta werewolves, a human, and a kidnapped emissary.” He raised his eyebrow in disapproval. “And this is the army with which you intend to take down the Hale pack?”

Isaac found himself grinning and vowed never to forget the look of shame that graced Kate’s face in that moment.

“I’ll – I’ll recruit more,” she stammered.

“Yes, you will,” he agreed firmly. “In the meantime, kill the human. He’s useless now that I have Stiles’ memories. I can break through the wards.”

Isaac shuddered and fought to break his bindings again, but once again they paid him no mind.

Kate’s superior sneer was back. “Actually, this particular human we need to keep. He’s –”

The rest of her sentence was cut off by the metal door wrenching open. There was a furious roar, followed by Graham’s bloody, mangled body being thrown down the stairs. 

“Derek,” Isaac slumped with relief. His pack was here.


	21. POV Derek

Derek sat on the curb with his head in his hands. He was gone. Stiles was just… gone.

He’s not sure how much time had passed, but he could vaguely hear the rest of his pack muttering around him, trying to come up with a plan. There was an achy, hollow feeling in his chest that made him want to howl. 

Derek’s head shot up. Where was she? “Lydia?” He called frantically.

Lydia ran over to sit next to him on the curb. She grabbed his forearm with both of her hands. “What, what is it, what do you need?” 

He looked into her eyes like they were a glass of water and he was dying of thirst. “Do you feel like screaming?”

She frowned and closed her eyes. “No,” she let out in a sigh. “Not for Stiles or Isaac.”

“For someone else?” he asked with slightly less urgency in his voice.

She nodded and stood up, extending her hand.

He took it gratefully and stood up to full height. He looked around to find that everyone was in the alley behind the convention center. 

Derek’s eyes flashed red when he realized Deucalion was there too. Striding over to the wolf, he grabbed his shoulders roughly. “Do you know where they are?”

Deucalion nodded calmly. “That’s why I’m here, Derek. I heard the commotion from my hotel room, and your mother has filled me in on tonight’s events.”

“Where are they?” he demanded again, not relinquishing his grip.

“I’ve been having Kate followed by one of my betas. They are in an abandoned warehouse a few miles west of here.”

Derek looked around at his pack, his red eyes shining brightly in the dark alley. “Let’s go.”

It took a while since they were on foot, but soon they came upon a lone warehouse. 

“Hold on,” came Deucalion’s voice from the middle of the group. “It’s been warded. One of my betas found that out the hard way.” He winced, remembering how much pain his young beta had been in after attempting to enter.

Derek growled unhappily. “Can anyone hear anything inside?”

They all shook their heads in frustration.

He rounded on his mother. “Was this all part of your plan, Mom? To get Stiles and Isaac kidnapped?”

Talia closed her eyes and looked down, ashamed. When she met Derek’s eyes again, she reached out to grip his arm, but he pulled away.

“Derek,” she implored him. “Stiles knew this might happen. We needed to have a contingency plan.”

He frowned at her, a second away from crying and running into her arms for comfort.

“No, my darling,” she continued sadly. “This was not our plan. Our plan is hopefully what is happening inside.” 

The rest of the pack and Deucalion had formed a circle around the pair, listening intently. 

“So,” said Derek, cocking his head to the side in concentration. “It was a contingency plan in case he was captured?”

Talia nodded. 

“And Isaac knows about it?”

Another nod.

“Who else?” Derek demanded.

Boyd cleared his throat behind Derek. Derek whipped around to see his and Erica’s hands raised.

Before Derek could react, there was a flash of light as the wards were disabled.

Without a second thought, he started running towards the door.

“Derek, don’t!” he heard Lydia yell.

He didn’t care about the risk; only getting to Stiles. Once he had crossed the threshold, he heard the rest of the pack follow.

There were a surprising number of doors in the warehouse, and Derek was determined to look behind each one. 

He heard a scuffle behind him, and the pained final howl of a wolf that wasn’t in his pack.

It took him a few minutes to get from the front to the back of the warehouse, until he had just one more door to open.

It led to an open hallway with a single metal door at the end. He was hit with a whiff of Stiles’ scent and knew immediately that he had found them.

A muscular beta with blue eyes met him head on in the hallway, but he was no match for an angry Alpha. Derek dispatched him with the rake of his claws and pushed him through the metal door, roaring loudly.

The scent of his mate and his beta nearly knocked Derek over. He heard Isaac whimper his name and whipped his head around wildly to find him. He was chained to the wall, but was still alive.

Derek’s attention was pulled from Isaac by the sight of Stiles standing in the middle of the room. Derek allowed himself a second of relief at the sight of his mate unharmed, but the relief turned to stone in his gut when he took in Stiles’ light pallor and lifeless eyes.

“No,” he insisted. “Stiles?” 

Stiles smirked and sent a wave of magic towards Isaac, knocking his head against the wall and plunging him into unconsciousness.

“Guess again, Sourwolf.” 

Derek let out a strangled growl and lunged at the Nogitsune. It laughed and redirected him midair with the flick of a wrist. Derek was flung into a chair in the middle of the room that smelled like Stiles’ blood.

Derek looked up from the ground and saw Boyd, Erica, Allison, and Deucalion running into the room.

“Aww, look who’s come to save the day,” Kate purred at Allison. “Come to save your little wolf pack?”

Allison staggered back, but recovered quickly and knocked an arrow, releasing it before Kate knew what was happening. There was a satisfying crunch as it imbedded itself into Kate’s leg.

Kate roared and went to attack the four of them on the stairs, but found she couldn’t move. 

The Nogitsune held her at bay while maintaining eye contact with Derek. “Don’t be stupid, Kate,” he chided. “They’d rip you apart.”

Boyd and Erica growled in agreement, but didn’t move any further into the room. Deucalion had his hand on Allison’s arm, preventing the huntress from attacking Kate.

There was a stalemate for a few moments where no one breathed. 

“Stiles?” Came Erica’s voice from the staircase, sounding like the name had been punched out of her.

“Mmm, not so much.” It replied mockingly, throwing her from the stairs over towards Isaac. She hit the concrete wall with a crunch that made Derek wince, and landed on the floor unmoving.

Derek couldn’t move. He didn’t know if it was because of a spell or from the shock of losing Stiles to the Nogitsune again. 

“Let me go,” hissed Kate. 

The Nogitsune clicked his tongue impatiently at her. “I think not. We should go; we’ve got some lives to destroy.”

With one last flick of his wrist, he brought the ceiling down from above him. He grabbed Kate and made for the exit, leaving absolute destruction in his wake.

Derek wasn’t aware that he was panicking until Allison was in front of him urging him to breathe. By then, the rest of the pack had made it into the room and were checking on Isaac and Erica.

“They’re alive,” Talia reported, clutching her chest in relief. 

There was a cough as Isaac regained consciousness. Derek ran over to him and wrapped his arms around his beta on the ground, still panting heavily.

“Are you alright?” he asked Isaac with a concerned frown.

There was a crunch as Deucalion freed him from his bonds. 

Isaac sent Deucalion a grateful nod and turned his attention back to Derek. “I’m fine,” he dismissed. He looked up at Talia and Boyd. “What happened? What did he say?”

They both shook their heads. “We didn’t hear much, we only got here after you were unconscious.”

Isaac grabbed at Derek’s shirt desperately. “Did he say anything to you? After I was out, but before Boyd and Erica got here?”

Derek shook his head, trying to remember. “I – I don’t remember. Why? What’s going on?”

“Derek, you need to think!” Isaac shouted frantically.

He was alarmed at Isaac’s ferocity in that moment, but tried to focus on what had just happened. “Uh, he said… well, I said ‘Stiles?’ and he said ‘Guess again.’”

Talia crouched down so they were eye-to-eye. “That’s all he said?”

Derek nodded. “Yeah. He just said, ‘Guess again, Sourwolf.’ Why?”

Isaac slumped forward and put his head in his hands. When he looked up, the boy was smiling.


	22. Flashback

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a flashback to when Isaac and Talia discussed their plan with Stiles in the woods behind the Stilinski house.

“We have an idea,” said Talia, looking at Isaac with a nod.

Stiles’ eyes roamed between the two warily. “An idea? Something that’s going to stop Kate from using the Nogitsune against me?”

Isaac bobbed his head in a half-shrug. “Not exactly.” He held up the small box and opened it. Inside was a vial. “Do you recognize this?”

Stiles closed his eyes in defeat. “Letharia Vulpina. Wolf lichen.” He opened his eyes and looked at Talia with tears in his eyes. “You think she’s going to succeed, don’t you? Kate’s going to take me and unleash the Nogitsune. And this,” he gestured angrily to the vial, “Is our Hail Mary.”

“Stiles,” Isaac began imploringly. 

“What if it doesn’t work?” Stiles interrupted. “What if it wears off before she takes me, or if it conflicts with my magic and my body rejects it?”

Talia perked up and sent a small smile towards Isaac upon hearing the last question. It was surprising enough for Stiles to stop is tirade. 

“Isaac?”

Isaac took a steadying breath. “Pahn’s parents spelled the lichen. It has been specially engineered to work alongside your magic. Since using your spark causes your metabolism to skyrocket, the herb on its own would only last a few hours. But this,” Isaac held up vial triumphantly, “Will be absorbed by your magic and will enhance its potency. This amount should be effective for over a month.”

Stiles nodded begrudgingly. “That should give us enough time to come up with a longer-lasting solution, if we haven’t already caught Kate by then.”

He clapped Isaac on the back and smirked. “Ok, so how do we inject this into me? I should warn you, needles make me faint.”

Talia grimaced. “I’m afraid you’ll have to stay awake for this one,” she said, pulling a syringe seemingly out of nowhere. “You’ll have to heal yourself immediately or else Derek will smell the blood.”

Isaac held out his hand and Stiles took it without thinking. “I’ve got you,” he whispered. “And I’ll take your pain during the injection,” he said, with only a hint of teasing in his voice.

Stiles barely had time to roll his eyes before Talia was already finished. 

Grumbling about sneaky werewolves, Stiles focused on his spark to make sure the puncture healed right away.

“Stiles,” said Talia tentatively. “There’s something else we need to talk to you about.”

“You want me to pretend it worked if she tries to possess me, don’t you?” Stiles asked wryly.

Talia and Isaac share a surprised look before turning both of their attention back to Stiles.

“That’s what we have been discussing, yes.” Talia offered.

“Yeah, I think that might be the only way to figure out what she’s up to,” conceded Stiles with a shudder. 

“To be clear,” Isaac was quick to add, “We’re not saying you should go out of your way to put yourself in that kind of situation.”

“Of course not,” Talia interjected, shaking her head firmly. “The last thing we want is for you to put yourself in danger intentionally. But, Stiles –” She trailed off uncertainly.

Stiles waited patiently for her to continue.

“If all of this happens – if she takes you and attempts to possess you, and you do have an opening to convince her that it worked… you may need to do something to prove to her that you are the Nogitsune.”

Stiles frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Kate’s not an idiot,” Isaac whispered. “She may not believe the possession took unless she sees you do something that you wouldn’t otherwise do. Like a show of force.”

Stiles furrowed his brows. “You mean like hurting someone?”

The other two nodded. “Which is why we will both be staying close to you until we find Kate,” said Talia. “If it comes down to it, you may have to hurt one of us to convince her you’re on her side.”

“No,” Stiles argued immediately. “I’m not going to do that.”

“You may not have a choice,” Isaac countered. “She needs to believe you’re the Nogitsune so you can get information on her operation.”

“I won’t hurt you,” he tried to say with finality. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Talia put her arm around Stiles shoulders and sighed when the boy leaned into her touch. “We know you don’t, darling. But you’ll have to.”

After a few more minutes of half-hearted arguing from Stiles, he finally agreed.

"Do you think I'll have to kill someone?" Stiles voiced the question quietly, almost not wanting to hear the answer.

"You might," Talia admitted. "But we're going to do everything we can to make sure that doesn't happen."

Isaac looked at Stiles sadly. "Do you think you could? If you had to?" He whispered tentatively.

Stiles was quiet for a moment, considering his answer. "I would die for this pack, and I would live for it. I - I think I could kill for it, too."

Talia and Isaac surrounded Stiles, pulling him into a tight hug, where they stayed for the next minute without speaking.

They discussed telling Derek of the plan, but decided against it.

Stiles turned to leave the woods, but was stopped by Isaac’s sudden realization. 

“We need a code word!” 

“Huh?” asked Stiles eloquently.

“A code word,” Isaac repeated. “Something to let us know you aren’t really possessed. I mean, I’m pretty confident in the wolf lichen, but it’s Kate so you never know. We need a code word for you to say so we know it’s you.”

Stiles thought for a second before smiling grimly. “Sourwolf,” he whispered. “I’ll say ‘Sourwolf.’”


	23. We have a problem

Deep breath in, deep breath out. 

Deep breath in, deep breath out.

Stiles repeated this calming routine throughout the drive from the warehouse. His face retained its practiced unaffected look, with the occasional bored sneer thrown in for good measure. But make no mistake, Stiles was freaking out.

He had killed someone. And he’d hurt Isaac and Erica. How could he have done that?

Stiles knew he had to make Kate believe he was really the Nogitsune, and that no one would be crying over the loss of Alyssa, but the guilt of taking a life tasted like ash in Stiles’ mouth.

He spared a second to be thankful that training with werewolves had helped him hone the very useful skill of keeping his heartbeat steady at all times. Stiles wasn’t naïve enough to think Kate was done testing him.

“Now, I don’t want you to think I’m not enjoying this little impromptu road trip, but where exactly is it that we’re going?” He asked Kate with a raised eyebrow.

“The airport,” she responded shortly. Kate threw him a nervous glance, clearly regretting her tone. 

Stiles cocked his head to the side in what he hoped was a menacing manner. Apparently, it worked because Kate was quick to follow up.

“I – I mean, we’re going to the airport to catch a flight. To Beacon Hills,” she clarified.

Another breath in. “What’s your big plan, Kate?” He goaded. “Are you going to try to take down whatever mongrels he left back home?”

Kate spared him a smirk before fixing her eyes back on the road. “Something like that,” she hedged.

Stiles tsked. “Aw, what’s the matter? Don’t you trust me?”

“I don’t trust anyone,” she replied immediately.

They were interrupted by Stiles’ phone ringing in his pocket. Looking at the screen, he shared a wicked smile with Kate, all the while trying to fight back the bile in his throat.

“Laura, so nice of you to call and check in.” He shot Kate a wink, hoping he wasn’t overselling it.

“Stiles? Stiles, where are you?” Came Laura’s panicked voice. “Derek isn’t picking up his phone and that creepy guy is here.”

Stiles’ stomach dropped, but he trusted Laura – she wouldn’t let anything bad happen, and she had the other pack members who stayed to help her.

“He’s at the house?” Stiles asked through a fake grin. “Well, by all means, Laura, let the man in.”

Kate smiled creepily at that, nodding in approval.

“Let him in?” Laura repeated incredulously. “Stiles, what’s going on?”

He clicked his tongue. “Sorry, Stiles can’t come to the phone right now, but I’d be happy to take a message.”

“What? Wait – that’s Derek on the other line.” Stiles could perfectly picture her confused frown.

“Well, you shouldn’t keep him waiting. Tell him I say hello, will you?” He drawled into the phone.

“Tell him – what? Aren’t you with him?” 

Stiles ended the call without responding, humming indifferently to a theme song to keep from vomiting.

He pulled up flight information on his phone. “First Class ok?” he asked Kate rhetorically, resuming his humming.

“You really know how to treat a lady,” she purred back at him.

Fighting to keep his facial expression even, he replied, “Oh, this one’s on the big bad wolf.”

Kate laughed maniacally and resumed their drive to the airport.

Meanwhile, Stiles closed his eyes and found himself praying. Praying that Derek hadn’t asked Lydia how to turn off the bank account notifications on his phone.

Once they were in the air, Stiles allowed himself to relax a little. Kate was flipping through a magazine like she wasn’t on her way to execute a pack of innocent people, so he didn’t have to worry about anything except keeping his heartbeat steady.

He figured by now, Isaac and Talia would have let the rest of the pack in on the plan. He didn’t even want to think about how angry Derek would be when they saw each other next. 

Stiles hoped Derek had seen the plane tickets on his account statement and warned Scott and Laura that they were coming.

Which reminded him… “So, you’re keeping the vet,” he tried to put as much disdain into the word as he could muster, “In Beacon Hills? That’s bold.”

She waved him away without looking up from her magazine. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

Stiles brought his spark to his fingertips, hoping a small show of force wouldn’t be pushing it. He placed his hand on Kate’s shoulder and sent a shock of electricity through her body. “Don’t be what?”

Kate jumped and dropped her magazine, fighting to scoot as far away from Stiles’ hand as she could. “Nothing!” she insisted. “The vet’s in Oregon. Don’t worry, I had Alyssa ward the house before we left for DC.”

Stiles sat back, smirking with the perverse pleasure he got from scaring Kate, however momentarily.

He looked around the First Class cabin to make sure no one was watching, then let his spark fly over his hands menacingly. The crackle would have been inaudible to any human, but Kate could hear it quite clearly. 

“Who is this man you have following the pack in Beacon Hills? We were quite rudely interrupted before you could tell me back in the warehouse.”

Kate licked her lips and eyed Stiles’ hands warily before telling him exactly who the man was.

After dropping the bomb on him, she excused herself to the bathroom. Stiles took advantage of her absence by grabbing the closest piece of paper and writing utensil to him and writing out a frantic note to Laura.

He hoped they wouldn’t cause a scene at the airport, but he had to believe someone would at least be there.

He used his fingernail to cut into the palm of his hand, letting a few drops of blood get onto the paper before he healed himself. Hoping Kate would chalk the smell up to one of the barely-noticeable stains on his clothes, Stiles shoved the note into his pocket.

Once they landed, Stiles looked around the terminal uneasily the whole walk to the parking lot. He dropped the note by the entrance where he was waiting for Kate to return with their stolen rental.

As he climbed in the passenger seat, his eyes swept the terminal until they found what they were looking for. Through one of the plastic trees every airport in the world had set up by the sliding glass doors at the entrance to baggage claim, Stiles saw two glowing red eyes.  
__________________________________________________________

“Ok, good,” said Scott, turning towards Laura. “He saw me.”

Laura let out a weary breath. “I still don’t understand why we had to just let them go.”

Scott put his hand on her arm comfortingly. “Derek says we have to trust that Stiles knows what he’s doing. If he didn’t think there was more to learn from Kate, he would have given us some kind of sign that the time was right for us to attack.”

Laura nodded through a frown. “You’re right. And I do trust Stiles. Scott? What’s wrong?” The Alpha had turned away from her sharply, sniffing the air with purpose. 

“It’s Stiles’ blood.”

The two raced across the baggage claim area to find the source of the smell, until they came across the note Stiles had left for them. 

Scott picked it up and his eyes nearly bulged out of his head upon reading what it said. 

Laura took it from him and read it herself. 

Scott looked like he was going to throw up, so Laura took it upon herself to make the call. 

“Mom?” She said desperately when she heard the answering click. “We have a problem.”

“You’re on speaker, darling, what’s wrong?” Came Talia’s reply. Laura could tell she was trying to keep her voice even and soothing.

“Well, a couple of things. Is Derek there?” She asked, eying Scott to see if he had vomited yet.

He hadn’t, but it looked like he was about to bolt, so she held out her hand and grasped his tightly. 

“No, he got the next flight back with Lydia, Peter, Dom, and Deucalion,” Talia confirmed.

“Deucalion?” Laura exclaimed exasperatedly. “Never mind. Listen, you said one of the alliances you made was with a pack in Oregon, right?”

“Yes, the Stevenson pack.”

Laura nodded in relief. “That’s where Kate is keeping Deaton. We need their help finding him. Stiles was able to leave us a note at the airport – Kate said Alyssa had warded the house he’s in, but her wards may not be working anymore.”

Laura heard Talia giving orders for someone to go find Charlotte Stevenson. Scott sighed deeply, relieved that they had a new lead on Deaton.

“Mom, there’s something else,” Laura said with a whine in the back of her throat. “It’s about the man who Kate’s been having follow us. I saw him earlier, but he seems to have disappeared again. Stiles told us who he is.”

“Go on,” Talia instructed.

Laura leaned into Scott’s side, relaxing slightly when he put his arm around her shoulder. 

“It’s Ana’s dad.”


	24. A visual learner

Once again, Stiles found himself sitting in a car with Kate driving, trying his best to keep his breathing and heart beat steady. 

He trusted his pack. Stiles figured Scott would have taken Keith, Grady, and Wallace with him to Oregon, where hopefully some of the Stevenson pack would be waiting to help them find Deaton.

That would leave Laura as the lone werewolf guarding the territory, but since the others would have surely gotten the next flight out, he would only need to keep Kate from attacking for maybe two hours before the cavalry arrived.

What the hell was he going to do about Ana’s dad? Why was he stalking the pack? How did Kate even find him? Stiles huffed silently. There were a lot of questions he needed answers to, but he had to be careful – asking too many of them at once would provoke suspicion.

They stopped driving and pulled up in front of a small house about an hour outside Beacon Hills. Stiles could feel that there used to be magic surrounding the house, but couldn’t feel any active wards.

Because he had killed Alyssa. The thought made its way to the forefront of Stiles’ mind before he could stop it. He closed his eyes and put that issue into a tiny box, knowing it would just hurt that much more when he opened it again. But he couldn’t think about that at the moment – he had bigger things on his plate.

Stiles shook his head and opened his eyes, grateful that Kate had been too preoccupied to notice his minor freak out.

He walked up the pathway to the front door behind Kate and strode inside with a confidence he didn’t feel. Looking around, Stiles noticed that there was almost no furniture on the main floor, save for a single table in the kitchen and a couch in what he assumed would have had to be the living room.

The man who had been stalking the pack – Ana’s dad – was standing in the kitchen, glaring at Stiles.

“What is he doing here?” he demanded.

Kate rolled her eyes and waved him away dismissively, but he didn’t budge.

“You brought one of them here? Are you insane?”

Kate shifted and roared in his face, prompting the man to fall flat on his ass on the floor. She shifted back and looked at him with enough crazy in her eyes that Stiles almost had to take a step backwards.

“He’s not who you think he is,” Kate spat venomously. “And you would do well to show us both some respect.”

He stumbled to his feet and held up his hands. “Where’s everyone else, anyway?” 

“Dead,” Kate responded as if it couldn’t matter less. Which Stiles supposed to her, it actually couldn’t.

“So you’re the little cub’s father?” Stiles sneered, keeping about ten feet between himself and the man.

He nodded, still looking slightly worried that Kate had said the rest of their team was dead. “Eleanor didn’t even tell me she was pregnant when she left me. That bitch.” He shook his head angrily. “And then this one,” he gestured crudely at Kate, “Tells me a bunch of werewolves kidnapped my little girl and killed Eleanor!”

Stiles quirked an eyebrow disinterestedly, but inside, he was fuming. Kidnapped her?

“So,” Stiles scoffed. “What’s your big plan, papa bear? You going to take down a werewolf pack and live happily ever after with your daughter?”

He raised his head defiantly. “Yeah, so what?”

Stiles was beyond done with this guy’s attitude. “What’s your name, anyway?” he asked, waltzing forward and extending his hand.

The man seemed taken aback by the polite gesture, but placed his hand in Stiles’ firmly. “Daniel – agh!”

Stiles twisted Daniel’s arm behind his back and turned him so he was facing away from Stiles. He pulled up on Daniel’s arm, knowing the motion would make it feel like his shoulder was about to be dislocated.

“Kate told you that you would do well to show us some respect,” he whispered into Daniel’s ear. “But you seem to be more of a visual learner.” He drove the point home with a final tug on his arm before releasing him. 

Daniel turned around, cradling his injured arm to his chest.

“I don’t believe it will be necessary for you to speak again unless one of us directs you to. Do you understand me?” Stiles hissed quietly, not blinking as he made eye contact with Daniel.

Daniel nodded rapidly, walking backwards as fast as he could until he hit the wall.

Stiles turned his attention to Kate. “I assume you have a plan?”

Kate cocked her head to the side, clearly having enjoyed the scene she just witnessed. “I did, but it involved Alyssa. Who you killed.”

“Hmm,” replied Stiles with mock-concern. “If only you knew someone who knows magic.” 

She sneered in return, but smirked begrudgingly. “You have Stiles’ memories, correct?”

Stiles nodded once, his mind racing. There was nothing more he needed to learn from her, their interactions throughout the day had told him that. But Stiles needed confirmation that Deaton had been found safely before he or the pack could do anything to dispatch Kate.

And Stiles had no idea what they were going to do with Daniel. 

“Talk to me about the perimeter wards,” Kate said, leading him to the table that held a large map of Beacon Hills. 

“Well,” replied Stiles, thinking quickly. “We’ll trigger the wards no matter where we enter, but if Daniel can get in here,” he pointed to one spot by the south entrance of the Preserve where he knew the pack had cameras hidden, “I can give him instructions on how to disarm the perimeter runes, which would allow us to enter unnoticed.”

If Daniel succeeded in disarming the runes, he would still be caught on camera, which Boyd had hooked up last year to a motion sensor. The pack should see Daniel coming and know what to do from there. 

Suddenly Stiles felt a little silly for giving Erica and Cora such a hard time for running the pack through all those contingency drills a few months back.

If Stiles could convince Kate to wait until morning to attack, that would give Scott enough time to hook up with the Stevenson pack and confirm that Deaton was ok.

And disabling the perimeter runes wasn’t going to kill anyone, but it may provide enough of a distraction to allow Stiles to modify them once he was inside Beacon Hills with Kate. He could reverse engineer them to keep her in, rather than out.

He could do that. Lure Kate into Beacon Hills and trap her there so she couldn’t get out. 

Plan set in his mind, Stiles exhaled quietly, careful not to draw attention to himself.

“You,” he said to Daniel with as much disdain as he could muster. “Come here.”

Daniel shuffled towards the table hesitantly, stopping only when he was on the far side of the room, with the table between himself and Stiles. 

“If you pay very close attention and don’t screw anything up, you may just be able to disable Stiles’ wards without triggering the safe guards.”

“S – safeguards?” He stammered, clearly more scared of the unknown than of Stiles.

Stiles leveled him with a glare. “Oh, yes,” he smiled ominously. “If you mess this up, you will die quite painfully.”

Stiles spent the next hour going over the steps to disable the perimeter runes in painstaking detail, until he was sure that at least some of the pack had returned to Beacon Hills from D.C.

He stormed outside under the pretense of getting some fresh air after having dealt with extreme incompetence for the last hour, and chanced a glance at his cell phone. 

There was nothing from Scott or Derek, but there was one text from his dad. Stiles frowned at the screen, trying to figure out what the hell it meant. 

‘Hope you’re having fun in D.C. Taking a few days off with your mother to visit your aunt. Hope she likes peanuts.’

When the real meaning of the text hit him, relief swept over Stiles like someone had poured a glass of cold water down his back. 

Ana was safe and out of Beacon Hills.

He chuckled quietly at the thought of how excited his dad must have been to finally get to text in code, but pushed that thought aside quickly after hearing the front door close.

Stiles turned around and made a show of sneering at the phone. “Idiots didn’t even think to tell Stiles’ poor parents that he wasn’t in the driver’s seat anymore,” he said as he showed her the text.

Kate waved the phone away and gestured back towards the house. “Come on back inside, we’re about to get to the fun part.”

“And what would that be?”

A strangely serene grin graced her face before she answered. “Figuring out how to get me into the Hale house so I can burn it down… again.”


	25. Arcane rituals

Stiles didn’t sleep a wink that night. Kate curled up on the lone couch and slept like she was dead. 

With a scoff, Stiles left the house and sat outside on the porch, forcing himself to think about anything but how easy it would have been for him to kill Kate while her guard was down.

Not yet. Not until he knew Deaton was safe.

Through his restlessness, Stiles went through every possible outcome of the next day’s “attack” on Beacon Hills. He planned through every contingency. Unfortunately, some of those contingencies included either innocent civilian casualties or pack deaths, which only served to make Stiles more uneasy.

But he trusted his pack. They would know what to do, and they would be ready.

He trusted his Alphas. Scott would get Deaton back, Derek would be readying the pack territory for Kate’s attack, and Talia would be taking care of everything else – things that only an Alpha with her kind of experience and longevity would even think of.

When the sun made itself known over the trees, Stiles stood up, stretching the weariness out of his bones the best he could. One more day, he reassured himself. One more day of pretending to be this awful thing.

As he opened the door to the house, he made a promise to himself:

One way or another, Kate Argent would not live to see another sunrise.

He rolled his shoulders and stepped inside, only to find that Kate was already awake. She kicked Daniel roughly on the floor to rouse him.

After a few sleepy expletives were exchanged between the two, it was time for a final run through of the plan Stiles hoped they would never actually enact.

Stiles stalled for as long as he could. By the time Kate had convinced him to get on the road with her and Daniel, Stiles was confident that Scott would have had enough time to rescue Deaton and return to Beacon Hills.

Assuming nothing went wrong.

The drive to Beacon Hills was silent. Stiles could practically feel the excitement rolling off of Kate in waves. Every few minutes, Daniel would sigh quietly. He was worrying at his lip so badly, Stiles was surprised he hadn’t yet drawn blood.

They pulled up to the south entrance of the Preserve about an hour later. Roughly a hundred yards in were the perimeter runes Stiles had taught Daniel how to disarm.

“Go on,” Kate commanded with a none-to-gentle shove to Daniel’s back. He staggered forward and walked towards the wards like a man walking the plank.

This was it. All Stiles had to do was get Kate on the other side of those wards and he’d be able to trap her within the town limits. 

Stiles focused all of his willpower on staying still. That was one of the main details he remembered from the Nogitsune – how still it had been in his body.

To keep from pacing, Stiles leaned against the hood of the car with his arms crossed, doing his best to keep his face impassive.

Kate was checking her phone every thirty seconds and growing more and more irritated each time there was no message from Daniel.

Finally, about five minutes after they had sent him to disarm the wards, Kate’s face lit up. “He did it,” she confirmed, stowing her phone back into her pocket. “Let’s go.”

Stiles led Kate to where Daniel would be waiting. He hated leaving his back exposed to her, but figured the Nogitsune would never let her walk in front of him. Only a few more minutes, he reminded himself. A few more minutes, and Stiles could stop pretending.

When the disabled wards were in sight, Stiles felt his heart beat speed up. He turned to share a smirk with Kate, hoping she would take the change to mean he was also excited at the prospect of destroying his pack.

Five more steps, Kate.

He hoped the pack was nearby. This whole plan was contingent upon them being close.

Three.

Stiles trusted his pack.

Two.

Stiles trusted his Alphas.

One.

Stiles trusted himself.

Yes!

Stiles pulled his spark to his fingertips and aimed a potent jet of magic towards the runes. He felt it work immediately, locking Kate into the pack boundary.

Kate whirled around in a confused rage. “What the fuck was that?”

Before Stiles could respond, Kate’s head turned up as the wind changed direction. 

Stiles smiled; Kate could smell his pack. They were there.

She tried to run, but was stopped by the sight of nearly thirty glowing pairs of eyes shining through the trees. She was completely surrounded.

The pack, and a few people Stiles recognized that were not pack, closed in on her.

As the circle around her grew tighter and tighter, she focused her eyes on Stiles. “You!”

The circle stopped advancing when they were about ten feet from her on either side. Daniel found himself trapped a few feet from Erica and Cora. The two looked to Stiles briefly and after a nod, pulled him back to stand behind them.

Stiles’ eyes found Scott, who smiled brightly. Stiles sighed in relief at the confirmation that Deaton was safe.

“But how?” Kate roared at Stiles. 

He shrugged, throwing her a wink for good measure. “Honestly, honey, you’re not that bright.”

She lunged forward but was frozen in place by a flick of Stiles’ wrist. He raised his hand a bit and levitated Kate’s body about a foot in the air, locking her in place. Stiles send a second whoosh of air that hit Kate’s face and closed her mouth, barring her from speaking. 

“You underestimated us, Kate,” he told her simply, his voice deadly calm. 

There was silence in the clearing as everyone hung on Stiles’ every word.

“You see, my friend Isaac, here, is deceptively smart. He figured out pretty much right away that you would have been able to torture the Nogitsune’s location out of Deaton.” Stiles began circling Kate, waving his hand as he went so she would turn with him.

“He and Talia hatched a contingency plan that was reliant upon me being able to trick you. And I did. I got a note to Scott when you told me Deaton’s whereabouts. You took the Three Stooges, right, Scotty?” He asked, turning his head towards Scott just long enough to see him nod.

Keith, Grady, and Wallace chuckled lowly at their new nickname.

“And I’m guessing he called Chris and got the 411 on all your favorite tricks and booby traps you had put up around Deaton.” Stiles turned around and locked eyes with Chris, who spared him a small smile before nodding as well.

“And lastly, Boyd, wonderful Boyd,” he smiled at the beta. “You figured I’d lead Kate here, so you turned on the motion sensor notifications on your phone, right?” Boyd nodded as well before sending a scathing sneer towards Kate.

Stiles sighed happily. “Now, Kate, as fun as this is for me – and it is, it really, really, is – I believe there is someone else here who has something to say to you?”

Talia stepped forward and Stiles hastened to fill in her place in the circle. He reached his hand out to Derek who stood on his right, interlocking their fingers and squeezing tightly.

“Kate Argent, as Alpha of the Hale pack of Beacon Hills, I hereby accuse you of murder, statutory rape, arson, and attempted murder,” Talia said in a steely, formal voice.

Softening her tone, Talia took another step forward. “You have always thought of us as monsters. As primitive creatures with uncontrollable urges and arcane rituals.” Talia raised her eyebrows. “Well, you might have been right about that last part.”

“You see, Kate, one of our newer pack members is somewhat of an expert in ancient supernatural rituals.” Stiles smiled at Talia’s words and looked around for Keith, who was both puffing up with pride, and shrinking back in humility.

“He found an old code of sorts. You’re familiar with codes, are you not?” Talia asked mockingly, before schooling her face back to formality. 

Kate fought against her magical bindings, growling when the restraints held.

Talia looked around at the pack members and new allies surrounding her. “When anyone, human or otherwise, commits a crime against a pack, the Alpha of said pack can form a panel of representatives from other packs to pass judgment on the offending party.”

Kate shook her head as much as she could, and Stiles could see the faintest trace of fear in her eyes. She looked around wildly for Chris and Allison, but they steadfastly avoided her gaze.

Talia let her eyes bleed red. The pack members in the circle shined their eyes in response.

“It is my humble recommendation to this panel, that the punishment for the crimes committed against my pack be death.” 

At this, Talia stepped back into the circle. Stiles and Derek separated to make room for her. She squeezed Stiles’ arm, then let her hands drop to her side.

Marcy Davis, Talia’s friend and Alpha of the Davis pack, stepped forward. “I second Alpha Hale's recommendation.”

One by one, Marcy addressed the other Alphas in attendance and asked for their vote.

“Alpha Warwick?”

Dave Warwick stepped forward and nodded silently before stepping back.

“Alpha Kline?”

Patricia Kline stayed where she was in the circle, but let her eyes bleed red as she nodded as well.

“Alpha Webb?”

Carolyn Webb stepped forward and nodded directly at Talia before returning to the circle.

“Alpha Stevenson?”

Charlotte Stevenson called out, “Aye,” and flashed her eyes at Kate.

“Alpha Rojas?”

Carlos Rojas wet his lips and fixed Talia with a discerning stare before nodding in Marcy’s direction.

“Very well,” concluded Marcy. “Kate Argent, this counsel hereby sentences you to death.”

Derek let out a small whine. Talia grasped the back of his neck and they both relaxed at the contact.

Chris turned around and knelt down to open the duffle bag Stiles hadn’t noticed was behind him. After a moment of rooting around, he stood up with a broadsword in his hands.

Walking over towards Derek, he waited until the Alpha had his hands out before placing the sword in them gently. 

Kate’s eyes betrayed her fury at the sight.

Derek and Chris shared a look of understanding before Chris resumed his spot in the circle. 

Derek locked eyes with Allison, wanting, but not needing, her approval before he proceeded with the execution. Without missing a beat, Allison raised her head high and nodded sharply once.

Taking a deep breath, Derek made his way to the center of the circle, coming to a stop right in front of Kate. 

“I did not deserve what you did to me.” He told her, not breaking eye contact. Stiles felt a surge of pride for his wolf.

Derek raised the sword and let it hang in the air for a few moments.

With one smooth motion, Derek cut Kate in half.


	26. A more pressing issue

Stiles took a deep breath. Then another one. And another. 

It was all over. Kate was dead, he was back in Beacon Hills, and his pack was safe and alive. 

Stiles’ eyes glassed over as he backed himself into a tree. He slid down the trunk and fought viciously against the images and memories that were trying to make their way to the forefront of his brain. 

His hands covered in blood.

The look in Alyssa’s eyes when he’d snapped her neck.

The sound Erica’s head had made when it hit the cement.

Isaac’s scream from the corner of the room when he thought the plan had failed.

Stiles didn’t have time to let the thoughts in – there was work to do.

He stood up, ignoring the voices around him asking if he was ok. 

Slowly, Stiles made his way back to the perimeter runes to reactivate them. 

After that was done with, Stiles walked over to Daniel, gesturing for the man to follow him with a single nod. Once they were at the entrance to the Hale house, Stiles paused to look around and take inventory of the pack members who were present.

He noticed that Allison and Chris were absent. Figuring that they were off burying Kate, Stiles moved on to the more pressing issue of what they were going to do with Daniel.

“Come on,” he instructed the man, leading him into the library. 

Derek, who had run upstairs to change out of his blood-soaked clothes while Stiles had reactivated the runes, met Stiles at the door to the library.

Stiles took a deep breath and met Derek’s eyes for the first time since his return. 

He opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Derek rushed forward and took Stiles’ hand. “Hey, it’s ok. I know.”

Stiles cleared his throat and nodded. “Let’s go,” he said softly, squeezing Derek’s hand and leading him into the library.

Derek and Stiles sat down on one side of the table in the middle of the room. Daniel walked over to the table uneasily and sat down slowly across from Derek.

Talia entered the room and closed the door behind her. She stood at the end of the table, choosing not to sit.

“So,” Daniel said timidly, bowing his head slightly so he didn’t have to look anyone in the eye. “You’re not…” He peeked up at Stiles.

Stiles shook his head. “No. I’m not what she thought I was,” he said with finality, closing the issue.

“Stiles, why is he here?” Derek asked through gritted teeth. His fists were clenched as if he was using all of his power not to shift and attack the man sitting across from him.

“Because I’m not entirely sure he’s a bad guy in this situation.” At this, Talia pulled out a chair and sat down.

“What do you mean, Stiles? This is Ana’s father, correct? The same man who has been following the pack and reporting back to Kate?” She asked him with a frown. 

Stiles nodded. “Yes, but Kate’s been lying to him about pretty much everything. He thinks we murdered Eleanor and kidnapped Ana. I don’t know if we can blame him for all the,” he waved his hand around, but let it drop in exhaustion after only a second, “Stalking, given what he’d been told.”

“Is this true?” Talia rounded on Daniel, fixing him with a less icy stare than the one she’d been wearing only moments before. “You thought that we had kidnapped Ana?”

Daniel nodded before clearing his throat. “I didn’t even know about Ana until a little while back. Eleanor and I never did have the best relationship.”

“So you didn’t know you had a daughter?” Derek asked with somewhat softer eyes.

Daniel shook his head miserably. “I – I never really wanted kids. I don’t know how much of that was because of me and how much was because I didn’t want to raise children with Eleanor. But when she took off, I never thought it was because she was pregnant. I would have loved that baby,” he said earnestly, finally meeting Derek’s eyes.

Derek looked at Stiles for a moment and grabbed his hand under the table. “We didn’t take her. Eleanor’s coven attacked us and we had to kill her. That part is true.” He took a deep breath and squeezed Stiles’ hand. “The coven had sent Ana into our territory all alone, as a trick to weaken us before they attacked.”

Daniel held his hand up to his heart. His eyes went wild and unfocused. “All alone? I knew Eleanor was crazy, but…” he trailed off when Derek started speaking again.

“We took her in and realized she had been mistreated by her mom and a few other coven members. After the coven attacked us, we formally adopted Ana.” Derek blinked and swallowed nervously. “I adopted Ana,” he corrected.

Daniel’s head shot up at that. “So, you’re –”

“Her father, yes,” finished Derek fiercely. “And I love her, and you’re not taking her away from me.” He let his eyes bleed red and made the statement into a promise.

Stiles cut in to diffuse the tension. “But that’s not what you want, is it, Daniel? You said you don’t want children.”

Daniel shook his head, but hesitated before speaking. “That’s – that’s true, I don’t. But…” He took turns looking the others in the eye before sitting up straight. “I don’t know anything about you all. I can’t just leave my daughter with you.”

Before Derek could react, Talia took over the conversation. “Of course not,” she told Daniel gently. “I called Emily, Ana’s social worker, when we found out your identity. She is on her way now, and can answer any questions you may have about us or Ana.”

After a few moments of consideration, Daniel nodded. 

Derek looked like he was about to vomit. 

An idea struck Stiles suddenly. “Daniel, did you know any of the other coven members? Liz, maybe?”

Daniel’s eyebrows shot up and a grin appeared on his face out of nowhere. “Lizzy? Yeah of course I knew her. We haven’t spoken since Eleanor relocated the coven to Nevada, though. Why, is she ok?”

Stiles nodded, happy with the response. “She’s fine. She’s leading the coven now, as a matter of fact.”

Daniel’s smile widened. “Good for her. I always liked her and her sister.”

Stiles stood and walked to the library door. Derek and Talia followed his lead and rose from their chairs as well.

“I think I have an idea,” Stiles whispered to the two of them. “I just need to call Liz first.”


	27. Wings and viscera

As it turned out, the coven was already on their way to Beacon Hills.

“How far away are you?” Stiles asked Liz from one of the offices on the second floor. 

Liz paused, consulting her GPS. “About half an hour. So, it was really Daniel? The person who had been following you?”

“Yeah,” confirmed Stiles wearily, running his hand through his hair. It was all he could do to remain standing at this point. He wanted nothing more than to go up to his room and sleep for about a day, but there was work to be done.

“Hey, Liz? When were you going to ask me if you could move the coven to California?”

Liz let out a puff of air in frustration. “Who told you?”

“Well, Madeline told Chris and Chris told me. I know you guys are more powerful when you have access to a Nemeton. Did you think we’d oppose the move?” Stiles frowned in contemplation.

“I mean, no,” Liz responded hesitantly. “I just wanted to secure our alliance a little more before asking for access to something that would increase our power. You certainly would have denied that kind of request coming from Eleanor.”

“But you’re not Eleanor,” Stiles reminded her softly. “And besides, I have an idea.”

Stiles filled her in on the rest of his plan. By the end of their conversation, Liz had agreed to move the coven to a town about twenty minutes south of Beacon Hills. They would have access to the Nemeton on the pack’s land, and in return, Liz had agreed to train Ana so she could learn how to use her magic from a witch, rather than an emissary. 

They had also agreed that Daniel would stay under the supervision of the coven, until a decision could be made regarding any possible future interactions with Ana.

With that situation starting to work itself out, Stiles turned to the next issue he could fix before he fell apart.

The phone rang for a few seconds before a gruff voice answered. 

“Stiles, to what do I owe the pleasure?” 

Stiles shook his head and rolled his eyes before responding. “Hey, Duke.”

Deucalion huffed at the nickname, but said nothing. 

“I – I just wanted to call and thank you for leading the pack to where Kate was holding me and Isaac. You might have saved Isaac’s life,” Stiles told him sincerely. 

There was a brief moment of silence on the phone before Deucalion’s response. “Of course. I owe you and your pack quite a lot. More than I’d originally thought, as it turns out.”

Stiles frowned at that. “What do you mean?”

“Ah, they haven’t told you. Well, as you’ve noticed, I did not stay in California to attend Ms. Argent’s execution. I had intended to be a part of the judgment panel, but Lydia informed me that I was not welcome to stay in Beacon Hills.”

That surprised Stiles. “Lydia said that? Did she say why?”

“She did,” Deucalion sighed. “Apparently, in my more power hungry days –”

“You mean in your Alpha Pack days?” Stiles interrupted snippily. 

“Yes,” Deucalion continued. “One of the packs we… visited… was the former pack of two of your newer pack members.”

Stiles closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You killed Wallace and Keith’s pack?”

“Yes.”

“You understand why I can’t offer you an alliance, don’t you?” Stiles said tiredly, barely resisting the urge to fall backwards onto the couch cushions and just sleep.

“I do,” Deucalion admitted with a tinge of sadness in his voice that Stiles must have imagined.

“As emissary of the Hale pack, I cannot offer you an alliance. However, as just Stiles, if you ever find yourself in a bad situation, I may be willing to help.”

“Thank you, Stiles. An offer like that from “just Stiles,” is much more than I deserve. Take care.” He hung up before Stiles could respond.

There was a knock at the door that startled Stiles out of his thoughts. Sighing loudly, he crossed the room and opened the door to find Isaac with his head hung. 

Stiles didn’t know what to say. If he started apologizing for the things he had to say or do to Isaac while pretending to be the Nogitsune, Stiles knew he would fall apart. But he couldn’t just stand there and say nothing. 

“Isaac,” he started.

Isaac just shook his head. “I talked to Derek. He told all of us that we’re not supposed to mention what happened until the issues with Daniel and the,” he wiggled his fingers at Stiles’ stomach, “thing are dealt with. He figured that’s what you’d want.”

Stiles felt a tear forming in his eye. He rushed to brush it away before it could fall and chuckled hollowly. “He’s a smart man.”

“Yeah, I kinda like him,” Isaac agreed lightly. “Now, come on. The coven is almost here and Pahn’s parents are outside. They think they know how to kill the, um –”

“Nogitsune?” The shock of Isaac’s statement was enough for him to momentarily forget his fear of the fly still inside him.

The two raced down the stairs and out the sliding glass door in the kitchen. Stiles skidded to a halt in front of the Fae King and Queen.

Stiles remembered at the last second to bow his head respectfully before addressing them. “Isaac said you may be able to kill the Nogitsune?”

The Fae Queen smiled genially at him and nodded. “Yes, Stiles, we have a way. I have just spoken with Liz, and she has agreed to help as well. With her help, and yours, we should be able to both expel the fly inside of you, and destroy it.”

Stiles slumped in relief. 

After a few minutes of waiting for Liz in silence, Stiles voiced a question that had been nagging at him. “Can I ask why you didn’t offer your assistance before? When it possessed me the first time?”

The King and Queen exchanged grim smiles. It was the King who responded. “We have held our titles for many centuries. You do not achieve our kind of longevity by stepping in every time there is a problem in the supernatural community. As callous as that answer may seem, we have to think of our community first, and it was not in their best interest for us to step in at that time.”

Stiles pursed his lips, but conceded the point. “And it’s in their best interest now?”

The Queen’s eyes lit up. “Oh, yes. You see, Pahn will one day inherit our throne. We cannot allow a threat to the love of his life to be ignored.”

Isaac laughed softly and ducked his head to try and hide the blush rising up his neck to his cheeks. Stiles felt a rush of affection for the beta, and ruffled his hair gently.

Liz and the coven arrived a few minutes later, and got to work right away discussing the intricacies of the spell they were about to perform.

Isaac went inside to give instructions to the rest of the pack not to interrupt the ritual.

Stiles lay on his back in the clearing by the storage shed. The Fae King and Queen took their places at his head, while Liz, Beatrice, Madeline, and Sophie spread out around the rest of his body.

“Now, Stiles,” the Fae Queen said quietly. “Remember, all you need to do is use your spark to hold the Nogitsune in place. Once we begin the spell, it will try to flee.”

Stiles nodded and closed his eyes, focusing his energy and thoughts on finding the fly inside of him. Once he found it, Stiles wrapped his spark around it tightly, giving it no room to move. He nodded at the Fae Queen and kept his eyes shut.

When the chanting began, Stiles felt the Nogitsune start to fight against his spark. He felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, but kept his hold on the fly inside of him. His breath came in sharp bursts as the chanting grew louder.

After what was probably only a few minutes, but what felt like hours, the chanting stopped. Stiles opened his mouth to ask them if something had gone wrong, when he suddenly felt the urge to vomit.

Turning onto his side, Stiles gagged and retched. He looked at the ground and saw a single dead fly amongst the grass. 

Stiles shook his head in wonder. This one little fly had caused all this trouble. 

He curled his hand into a fist and pounded the fly into the ground for good measure.

But he couldn’t stop. His fist came down on the fly again and again until it was not much more than small black bits of wings and viscera.

Stiles’ hand hit the ground again, displacing the small rocks and dirt in the grass. He wasn’t aware that he was crying out until his body forced him to take a breath in.

Tears were falling freely down his face as he adjusted himself subconsciously to kneel on he ground. He left fist joined his right as they pounded into the ground. The small rocks in the earth left tiny cuts on his hands, but Stiles couldn’t feel a thing. 

His cries of anger turned into those of anguish. Spit flew from his mouth as the rage was expelled from his body. Rage and hatred and deep, deep sorrow.

Stiles felt Derek crouch down next to him and place a single hand on his back. 

Derek didn’t stop Stiles from hitting the ground, or pull him to his chest. He simply anchored Stiles with constant pressure to his back and let him scream.


	28. Nothing

Stiles screamed and screamed until his voice was hoarse, and then he screamed some more. At some point, he stopped banging his fists into the ground and sunk into Derek’s embrace. 

Derek didn’t offer words of encouragement or tell him everything was going to be ok. He simply held Stiles and rocked him gently back and forth.

Once the screams and the sobs had subsided, Derek stood up swiftly, taking Stiles with him. 

Stiles expected to feel all of the guilt and anguish and pain come rushing back to him, but instead he just felt numb.

Derek bridal carried Stiles into the now-empty Hale house. It was clear that the pack was giving them some privacy.

Derek set Stiles down on the kitchen counter and silently poured him a glass of water. He encouraged Stiles to drink it in small sips, before carrying Stiles up the stairs to their room. 

Stiles knew he should probably say something, but the urge to give in and let Derek just take over was incredible. He should let Derek make the decisions for him. After all, bad things happened when Stiles made decisions, right? So Derek could do that for now.

Derek set Stiles on his feet in the middle of their room and began methodically removing Stiles’ dirty clothes from his body. Stiles’ gaze remained unfocused and glassy while Derek took off his shirt, jeans, and boxers, leaving them in a pile on the floor.

After swiftly ridding himself of his own clothes, Derek softly led Stiles to their bathroom. Once he was sure Stiles wasn’t going to fall over, Derek turned on the shower and adjusted the temperature until it was just shy of scalding.

Stiles turned around and got a good look at himself in the mirror for the first time in days. 

He looked awful.

There were bags under his eyes; not as prominent as the ones he’d sported when he actually was the Nogitsune, but close. There was blood and dirt covering most of his body. Some of it dry, some fresh. 

Stiles forced himself to look away just as Derek began leading him into the shower. He stepped in behind Stiles and began methodically cleaning him, freeing him from the dirt, grime, and blood.

Derek’s hands moved swiftly, but delicately. He rinsed Stiles’ head, gently urging Stiles’ chin up so the water would fall backwards as he combed through his hair. 

From there, Derek took a washcloth to Stiles’ back and chest, washing away every speck that wasn’t supposed to be there. After he was done with each expanse of perfect, mole-ridden skin, Derek ran a hand soothingly over the area, as if reassuring them both that it was no longer tarnished.

Derek continued this way until even Stiles’ toes were clean. Stiles maintained his blank stare throughout, trying desperately to access an emotion, any emotion. 

None came.

So he let Derek lead him out of the shower and dry him off thoroughly before helping him into a pair of boxers and tenderly manhandling him onto the bed. Stiles curled up into himself once he hit the cold sheets.

Derek joined him only seconds later, wrapping himself up around Stiles immediately.

They still had not spoken a word. 

Stiles wondered idly if he should say something, but nothing came to mind. 

So for the first time since he could remember, he gave into his exhaustion, and slept.

When he woke up, Stiles was alone. He rolled onto his side and found a note on Derek’s pillow. 

“Told Ana about Daniel. She wants to meet him. Going to talk to Liz about him first. Will check in later this morning.”

Again, Stiles tried to feel something, anything. Annoyed that Derek thought he needed to be checked on. Abandoned at having woken up alone. Nervous at the thought of Ana meeting Daniel.

Nothing.

He sighed and rolled back over. Things were easier when he was sleeping. 

The dull light of a waning afternoon woke Stiles a few hours later. He looked around to see if he was alone and saw Derek sitting up against the headboard reading a book.

“Do you want to talk?” came his soft voice.

Derek marked his place in the book and turned all of his attention to Stiles.

A wave of emotions hit him suddenly. He looked up at Derek in a panic, not sure why exactly he couldn’t breathe. Derek pulled Stiles to his chest and rumbled deeply, begging Stiles to breathe with him.

Once he regained his breath, Stiles shook his head at the original question. 

He clung to the comforter surrounding him to try and ground himself to something while his mind warred over what feeling he should dwell on first. 

Anger won.

Anger that Derek had lied to him about the Nogitsune box in the first place.

Anger that he was put in a position to have to pretend to be the Nogitsune.

Anger at Kate for her many sins.

Anger at himself for not thinking quickly enough to find a way around killing Alyssa.

So much anger, Stiles felt himself starting to cry again. Hot tears made their way down his face, only to be brushed away by Derek, who was still holding him tightly to his chest. 

Over the next few hours, he and Derek worked through the litany of emotions overpowering Stiles. After anger came rage, then hatred, then regret, fear, helplessness, uselessness, pain, and then finally…

Shame.

When shame came to get him, Stiles retreated into himself where it was safe. Even Derek couldn’t get through to him, despite his best efforts. It was two days before Stiles would let Derek touch him. Another two before he would look Derek in the eye.

Stiles didn’t leave his room for nearly a week. He got up to go to the bathroom and shower – at Derek’s urging – and picked at his food just enough to satiate his parents’ insistence that he stay nourished.

During that time, Derek would talk. At first, he told Stiles all of the things that he, himself, was ashamed of. Then, he told Stiles stories from his childhood – things that had happened before the fire. 

He kept Stiles up to speed on the situation with Daniel. The coven had settled in a few towns over and had taken Daniel under their wing. Derek had introduced Daniel and Ana, which went about as well as anyone could have expected. Ana was hesitant, but warmed up to him after a little while. 

Ana expressed no desire to live with Daniel, and Daniel begrudgingly agreed that the Hale pack was a better family for her, and Derek a better father than he could ever be. 

After five days of silence, Derek sent in the big guns.

Stiles was lying in bed post-begrudging-shower, dressed in boxers and looking up at the ceiling. He heard the door open but didn’t turn his head to look at who was entering; it was always Derek.

“Hey, Stiles,” came a timid voice that was decidedly NOT Derek.

Stiles closed his eyes with a sigh. They’d sent Erica.

His Catwoman.

She plopped onto the bed unceremoniously and bounced a few times before settling, mirroring Stiles’ position on her back looking up at the ceiling. 

They sat like that for several minutes in silence, until Stiles had relaxed a bit. 

Just when Stiles thought Erica was going to stay silent throughout her visit, she whispered a name.

“Natalie Morrissey.”

Stiles turned his head to frown at her in confusion.

“The woman I killed when the coven attacked last year,” Erica continued at a whisper, still looking at the ceiling. “Her name was Natalie Morrissey.”

Stiles bit his lip as his eyes began to water. 

Erica closed her eyes before speaking again. “I asked Liz about her a few months ago. She was divorced. Her husband, Josh, had just been granted sole custody of their three year old before I killed Natalie. A little girl. Christina.”

Erica held out her hand palm up, inviting Stiles to take it, but not forcing him to.

Stiles took it immediately, intertwining their fingers. 

“Whenever I start to think about it too much, or get down on myself about it, Boyd likes to remind me that you were in ‘imminent danger,’ and that you and who knows how many others would have died if I hadn’t pulled the trigger.”

Erica used her other hand to wipe away a few errant tears. “Alyssa would have killed us all with a smile on her face, Stiles. She was no better than Kate. It may feel like you had a choice, but you didn’t. The time and the place may have changed if you hadn’t done it right then, but eventually you would have had to kill her. For us.”

She squeezed his hand tightly. “You saved us, Stiles. That’s what everyone downstairs thinks.” Erica shook her head angrily. “No, it’s what everyone downstairs knows,” she corrected herself.

“We love you, Stiles, and that’s not going to change. So you stay up here as long as you want if that’s what YOU want. But if you’re staying up here because you think anyone downstairs is going to judge you or be angry with you, then please think about coming down soon.”

Stiles cleared his throat and squeezed Erica’s hand.

“Thank you,” he said hoarsely.

“Anytime, Batman.”


	29. Progress

Stiles lay in bed contemplating Erica’s words for a few minutes before sitting up. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and ran his hands over his face and through his hair.

Shaking his head, Stiles looked at the door. His first obstacle.

Just walk through the door. That’s it.

Nope, Stiles decided with a sigh, dropping back onto the bed with a resigned plop. Maybe in a few more minutes.

About half an hour later, Stiles was out the door and standing on the top step of the staircase, trying desperately to stop thinking about what might be waiting for him at the bottom. 

He took a quick inventory of his emotions, ready to compartmentalize the negative ones and put them into a small box in the back of his mind. Stiles was surprised, however, to find that there were fewer of them to stow than there had been just the night before.

Emboldened by this discovery, Stiles descended the stairs before he could talk himself out of it. 

The wolves had heard him coming and had clearly warned the rest of the pack to act normal. Some of the pack was gathered in the living room, watching something on TV, but most of them were outside, congregating around Allison, Cora, and Laura.

Stiles cleared his throat. “What’s going on out there?” he asked the room.

Alerted to his presence by the sound of his hoarse voice, Ana’s head shot up from her position sprawled on the couch with her feet in Isaac’s lap. “Stiles!”

She stumbled to her feet in her haste and ran to him, wrapping her arms around his legs when she finally reached him. 

Stiles felt a surge of affection for the girl, and bent down to pick her up. “Hey, sweetie.”

Ana seemed content to just be in Stiles’ arms and didn’t say a word. 

Jackson nodded his head to the backyard and locked eyes with Stiles from the living room. “New training exercise – Laura and Cora versus Allison. Either get out there or hush, because I think Deaton’s about to cry.”

Stiles was struck by the familiarity of Jackson’s douchiness and was dismayed to realize that it actually made him feel better.

When the words Jackson had said finally caught up with him in their entirety, Stiles whipped his head around the living room, searching for Deaton.

His eyes landed on the former emissary, who was situated on the couch next to Scott, and he found himself walking towards him instinctively. “How are you feeling, Doc?”

Deaton smiled warmly at him. “I’m doing well, thanks to you.” He nodded for Stiles to join him and Scott on the couch, then turned his attention back to the TV.

Stiles looked down at the praise and took a deep breath, but relented and sat on Deaton’s other side. He situated Ana on his lap and turned his attention curiously to what they were watching, after sharing a smile with Scott, who was petting cat Jackson contentedly.

Derek appeared behind the couch and placed a calming hand on Stiles’ shoulder. “It’s your graduation. I promised Scott I’d tape it so Deaton could watch it when we got him back, remember?”

Stiles found himself smiling genuinely at the memory. “Thoughtfulwolf,” he chuckled, grabbing Derek’s arms and pulling the man down gently to place a warm, soft kiss on his lips. 

When the video was over, Deaton, Jackson, Isaac, and Scott all went outside to see how the matchup was going. Ana had fallen asleep on Stiles’ lap, so he stayed put.

Derek took Deaton’s abandoned seat and held his hand out towards Stiles, who took it gratefully.

“I’m proud of you,” Derek said, lifting their joined hands and placing a kiss on Stiles’ knuckles. 

Stiles felt the tears trying to fight their way to his eyes, but he blinked them back. He nodded at his wolf and tried to convey all of his emotions nonverbally, knowing that he would give in to his tears if he opened his mouth at that moment. 

Derek cocked his head to the side suddenly and gave Stiles a private smile once he realized what he had heard. He scooped up Ana, careful not to wake her, and relocated her to his own lap on the armchair across the room. 

Resigning himself to whatever was about to come through the front door, Stiles stood up with a tired sigh. 

The door crashed open, revealing his parents, who were looking around the main floor wildly. 

“Over here,” Stiles offered shrewdly with a half grin.

His mother got to him first, engulfing him in a bone-crushing hug. She was closely followed by his dad, who apparently couldn’t wait his turn, and gathered them both into a family bear hug. 

Stiles wrapped his arms around his parents, grateful beyond words that they had given him the space he had so desperately needed the past few days.

Once they had finally separated, Claudia rushed into the kitchen to cook Stiles a proper meal. The Sheriff sat on the couch and caught Stiles up on everything he’d missed.

Apparently, the Alphas who had come in for Kate’s trial were gone, and they’d heard from the Torres pack that the emissary, Claire, who had been involved in Stiles and Isaac’s kidnapping had been taken care of. His dad hadn’t seemed too concerned, so Stiles figured that didn’t mean she’d been killed.

“So Daniel’s background check came back clear?” Stiles confirmed once his dad was done talking. 

He nodded. “Yes, and the coven vouched for him completely. He’s spent a little time with Ana, but he freely admits that he isn’t the ‘father’ type.”

“Liz has already started training Ana once a week,” Derek interjected. “So she’ll get to see Daniel every once in a while when we take her over for her lessons. But he – um.” Whatever words he was trying to say had gotten caught in his throat as he looked down at his sleeping daughter in his arms.

“He’s talking to Emily about officially signing away his parental rights,” finished John softly, careful not to wake Ana. “His name wasn’t on the birth certificate, but they are biologically related. So Emily’s figuring out exactly how that would work.”

Stiles’ eyebrows shot upwards on his face. “Oh,” he said lamely. He cleared his throat. “I guess I’ve missed a lot.”

Derek fixed him with a loving look. “Nothing we can’t catch you up on.”

Claudia swept into the room then with a steaming hot bowl of pasta for Stiles. “Eat,” she commanded. “You’ve got a lot of meals to make up.”

Stiles found himself smiling at the motherly concern, and ate his food obediently. He was able to stomach about half of it before he had to give up, but it was progress.

“What’s going on with Allison, Cora, and Laura?” He asked between bites.

“New training idea,” answered Derek with a grin. “Allison’s using Ana’s rubber arrows. She went into the woods with a few minutes’ head start. Cora and Laura have to find her by scent, and one of them has to physically touch her before she shoots them both.”

“The pack making bets on who’ll win?” Stiles asked wryly. At Derek’s confirming nod, something started to settle within Stiles. The normalcy of the afternoon with his family and his pack made him feel grounded.

“Who do you think’s going to win?” John called to them from the kitchen where he was doing dishes.

“Allison,” said Derek, at the same times as Stiles said, “Cora and Laura.”

They looked at each other incredulously and fell into the easy routine of defending their choices and making their wagers.

Stiles was pretty sure the pack had decided not to overwhelm Stiles with too many pack members at a time, for which he was grateful. After training was done – Allison had won, but just barely – most of them split off into separate groups for dinner.

Scott, Allison, Cora, Lydia, and Jackson went on a double date to the diner, while Laura, Grady, Wallace, Keith, Kira, and Malia decided to head to the loft for a game night. 

Melissa, Claudia, and Talia took Ana for a girl’s night with the three of them at the McCall’s, and Erica, Boyd, Isaac, and Pahn headed out to have dinner with the Fae King and Queen.

Each of the wolves made sure to scent Stiles before they left, leaving Derek smirking with satisfaction once Stiles’ scent was apparently back to normal.

Peter and Dom had spread out clippings, binders, and magazines on the kitchen table. Guided by his curiosity, Stiles joined them only to find that they were still working on wedding details.

“Isn’t the wedding in less than a week?” He asked, cocking his head. “Lydia’s had everything set for months.”

Dom let out a world-weary sigh. “Yes, but somebody,” he looked pointedly at Peter, “Is having second thoughts about the peonies, and the table settings, and the, well, everything.”

Peter fixed him with an icy look. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I only plan on doing this once. Sorry I want it to be perfect.”

Dom just chuckled and darted forward to kiss the tip of Peter’s nose, delighting in the way it made the cranky man’s frown turn into a begrudging grin.

Stiles put his hands up in mollification. “Ok, not touching that one. I’ll leave you to it.”

He walked back into the living room where Derek was sitting on a couch watching him. 

“Where’d my dad and Chris go?” Stiles asked as he plopped down on the cushion next to him.

“Your dad got called in for work, and Chris went to go have dinner with Madeline.” Derek replied, scooting towards Stiles in what he probably thought was a subtle manner. 

Stiles shook his head at the lack of stealth, but closed the gap between them, turning around so he was leaning against Derek’s chest.

“Hey, Der?” He said hesitantly, glad for a second that they weren’t looking at each other.

“Yeah?”

Stiles cleared his throat. “No more lying, ok? From either of us.”

“No more lying,” Derek agreed fiercely. 

Stiles zoned out for a few minutes, finally letting his thoughts catch up with him. Snuggling closer to his wolf, he closed his eyes. 

“Are you going to be ok?” Derek asked quietly, pressing a light kiss to the top of Stiles’ head.

Stiles opened his eyes and took a deep breath. “Yeah. Yeah, I think I am.”


	30. You better

Less than a week later, Stiles found himself woken up by a frantic knock at the door. He was surprised to feel a grin working its way onto his face.

“Der?” He whispered, tilting his head slightly so he could see Derek’s beautiful, bearded face from where it was tucked into his shoulder blades.

“Hmm?” Came the sleepy reply from his wolf. Daniel had officially signed over his parental rights the night before and Derek and Stiles might have gone overboard with the celebrating.

“Wedding day,” Stiles responded. The grin turned into a full beam at the thought of what was waiting for them downstairs. 

Lydia had turned the house into a war room the night before. Everything had a place; the dresses, the tuxes, the flowers, the bouquets – you name it, Lydia had a spot for it.

Derek groaned and gave him a gentle nudge, encouraging Stiles to take the first shower so he could have a few more minutes of beauty sleep.

Chuckling, Stiles shuffled over to the bathroom and turned on the shower. After undressing, he stopped at the sink and took a good look at himself in the mirror. 

The bags under his eyes were gone, thankfully. Stiles shook his head thinking of all the makeup Lydia had threatened to put on him to cover them if they were still there by wedding day.

He met his eyes in the mirror and sighed. He hadn’t had a panic attack in three days, and the number of times he had needed to excuse himself from an overwhelming situation was down to about three a day. 

He could do it. A big wedding with the whole pack in one place. He could do it.

Stiles must have gotten lost in his thoughts again, because two strong hands snaking their way around his waist startled him back to the present.

“What were you thinking about?” Derek asked, pressing a kiss to the back of Stiles’ neck.

Stiles shuddered at the contact and let his eyes slide closed. “Just thinking about today. It’ll be a little harder to slip away if I need a minute when I’m the one presiding over the ceremony.”

Derek hooked his chin over Stiles’ shoulder, so their cheeks were pressed together. Their eyes met in the mirror. “You don’t have to do it if you’re not up for it,” Derek whispered.

Stiles nodded, rubbing his face against Derek’s beard. “I know, but I’m the emissary. It’s tradition.”

He took a deep breath and turned in the man’s arms. After pressing a soft kiss to Derek’s lips, he nodded to himself. “I can do this.”

Derek puffed up proudly and pulled Stiles closer so he could give him a proper kiss.

When they separated, Stiles grinned and raised his eyebrow cockily. “Now, if you’re… up for it,” he looked Derek up and down lewdly. “How about a shower?”

Derek shined his eyes and growled, lifting Stiles up and carrying him to the now-hot shower while they both laughed gleefully.

When Stiles and Derek finally joined the rest of the pack downstairs, Lydia gave them an evil eye before putting them to work.

As Peter’s best man, Derek was responsible for getting Peter ready at the Stilinski’s. 

“You’re late,” Lydia accused icily, pressing a to-go mug of coffee into Derek’s hand. “Take Peter in the Camaro to Stiles’ place. You’ll find both of your tuxes in the back seat, and the ring in the glove compartment. Be back here by 2:00pm sharp.”

She turned to leave, having already given Derek all the information he needed, but was stopped when Derek grabbed her hand and twirled her twice.

Her annoyed glare at his tardiness turned into a begrudging smile as she twirled. 

“Yes, dear,” he responded dutifully, letting go of her hand and giving her a toothy grin.

Stiles laughed and kissed Derek goodbye as Lydia rounded on Laura, Dom’s best man.

“You will be taking Dom in my car to the loft. Your dress and his tux are in the back seat, and the ring is already at the loft, in the top drawer of the coffee table,” she recited to Laura with a flick of her hair.

Laura simply threw her a wink and bowed before grabbing Dom and the keys.

Lydia continued doling out instructions while Stiles got a mug of coffee and joined an amused Talia at the kitchen table. 

“Wallace, Keith, you two go to the bookstore and make sure Claudia gets here by noon to start getting ready. She’s got Ana, so one of you will have to take her and her dress to the Stilinski’s. She insisted on getting ready with Derek and Peter,” Lydia finished with a fond eye roll as Wallace and Keith left.

“Grady, I need you to go to the station and make sure the Sheriff doesn’t put himself on any cases that may cause him to be late. He needs to be here by 2:30pm.”

Grady saluted and took off after Wallace and Keith.

“Scott, you go – wait, where’s Scott?” Lydia looked around, confused, until she spotted Scott and Allison making out on the couch. “Scott!” 

Scott separated from Allison and looked towards the kitchen innocently. Lydia closed her eyes and shook her head, but shot a smile in Allison’s direction. “Scott, I need you to go to the hospital and make sure your mom doesn’t lose track of time. If she can’t be here by noon, make sure she’s here by 1:00pm.”

Scott nodded and went back to kissing a laughing Allison. 

“Scott!” Lydia cried impatiently. 

“Sorry, sorry,” he said, holding up his hands as he rose from the couch.

Boyd chuckled and kissed Erica softly as he got up from their shared loveseat. “I’ll go with him,” he told Lydia reassuringly. 

She beamed at Boyd and made a note on her clipboard before sending the two on their way. 

“What are the rest of us doing?” Stiles asked Lydia once he had consumed enough coffee to be ready for the answer.

Lydia consulted her clipboard and looked at her watch. “Liz, Beatrice, Madeline, and Sophie should be here soon to help Talia set up everything in the backyard. The rest of us are going to get our manis and pedis done in the next two hours so they have time to dry before we move on to makeup and hair.”

Isaac wiggled in his armchair, excited about getting his first pedicure. He was reluctant at first, but Jackson talked him into it eventually.

“And what about me?” Stiles asked after sending Isaac a smile.

Lydia raised her eyebrows impressively. “You should be finalizing your speech.”

“Sp – speech?” 

Whoops.

“Of course, my speech!” Stiles refilled his coffee and ran upstairs into one of the offices, leaving Lydia pinching the bridge of her nose in the kitchen.

He stared blankly at his laptop for several minutes, until a thought struck him suddenly. Exhaling in relief, he opened the computer and started typing.

Unsurprisingly, Lydia had planned everything perfectly. By 3:00pm, everyone was in their places and the backyard had been transformed into the kind of wedding venue only imagined in fairy tales. 

There was a large tent floating above them to keep the afternoon sun away. The chairs on either side of the aisle were decorated with black ribbons and white flowers. The aisle was adorned with a red carpet – Peter’s request, of course – and the arch above where they were to be married was covered with red roses.

Stiles had taken his place under the arch, facing the guests, and was watching in awe as his friends and family took their seats, looking flawless.

The music started and everyone turned to watch Ana walk carefully down the aisle in a beautiful black dress. She was holding a white wicker basket and every few feet, she would grab a handful of black, red, and white rose petals and sprinkle them onto the floor.

When she made her way to the end of the carpet, she looked up proudly and took her seat next to Talia. As she turned around, Stiles caught a glimpse of the red ribbon that had been braided into her hair. Recognizing it as Derek’s handiwork, Stiles smiled.

Next up, Derek and Laura waltzed down the aisle with linked arms. Stiles’ breath caught in his throat as he took in the sight of Derek in a fitted suit and red bow tie.

Laura was no slouch herself, walking confidently down the aisle in a bright red strapless, floor length dress with a thick black ribbon tied around her waist. 

The two separated and stood on their respective sides, turning their attention to Peter and Dom, who had decided to walk each other down the aisle. 

Dom was in a traditional black tuxedo with a red bow tie that matched Derek’s.

Peter had chosen to wear a red tuxedo, with a black vest and bow tie that made him look like the actual devil.

The two made it to the arch and linked hands, looking up at Stiles expectantly.

Trying his best to ignore the fact that everyone was looking at him in that moment, Stiles cleared his throat and focused on his words.

“We are gathered here today to witness the joining of two extraordinary people; Dominic Xavier Bertrand, and Peter Anthony Hale. It’s not everyday you come across a couple who can say that their love conquered death.” Stiles paused while the pack laughed. Peter and Dom exchanged wry grins.

“Most people who believe that ‘love conquers all’ never really have to experience the ‘all’ part of that statement. Not the way the two of you have. I had the – pleasure?” He spared Peter a smile before continuing, “Of knowing Peter before Dom was Risen. And he was nothing like the man standing before me today. Dom, you were a big part of that. You didn’t change Peter because you wanted him a different way; you helped him realize that he wanted to change himself, for the better.”

Stiles took a deep breath and looked back and forth between the two. “Your love has made this pack stronger, and to merely thank you seems insufficient. So why don’t I just get on with marrying you instead?” Stiles waited for the pack’s chuckles to quiet down before he went on.

“Peter, Dom,” he looked at both significantly. “Never were two people so deserving of such a wonderful wedding. And as much as I never thought I’d say this to Peter, I wish both of you every happiness life has to offer.”

Peter and Dom grinned at him before turning towards each other and exchanging vows and rings. 

When Stiles gave the signal to kiss, Dom dipped Peter and planted a smacking kiss right on his lips.

Ana grimaced and hid her face in a smiling Talia’s dress so she wouldn’t have to look at the display, prompting a laugh from the guests.

After Peter and Dom swept down the aisle and the guests had vacated their seats, Liz and Stiles locked eyes and nodded at each other. They raised their hands in unison and pushed the chairs and red carpet back to form room for the dance floor. 

Liz organized the chairs around the tables she pulled out of nothing, while Stiles concentrated on putting together the hardwood dance floor that he laid down on the ground gently once it was complete.

Derek sauntered over to him and pulled him in for a kiss, locking his arms around Stiles’ shoulders. Stiles’ hands found Derek’s waist instinctively. The two began to sway until their kiss became a dance.

Stiles heard music start to play and laughed when he realized Liz had conjured up “At Last” as a soundtrack for his and Derek’s little moment.

Stiles felt an insistent tug at his pant leg and looked down to find an impatient Ana tapping her foot insistently.

“Yes, Ana?” Stiles said, trying not to smile at how adorable she looked. Derek had failed and was hiding his smile in Stiles’ shoulder.

“You promised you’d dance with me,” she reminded him with a pout.

“So I did,” he agreed, scooping her up and holding her between himself and Derek. 

Derek wrapped his arms around the two of them and led them in a slow dance that should have been awkward given their positions, but was just perfect.

Stiles hummed contentedly. “I could get used to this,” he whispered to Derek as they swayed.

Derek looked between Stiles and Ana, who was resting her head on Stiles’ chest. His eyes turned soft as he took Stiles’ face in his hands. “You better.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS. I really can't thank you enough for sticking with me through part one and now part two! I've still got an epilogue left, but I couldn't have written this story without all of your support these last few months. 
> 
> THANK YOU SO MUCH!


	31. Epilogue

“You’ll figure it out, I’m sure,” Stiles said into the phone as Allison opened the door and stepped into their apartment. “Yeah, I know. Hey, J, I gotta go. Tell Cora and Lydia I’ll talk to them tomorrow.”

He hung up and leaned back on the arm of the couch, stretching his legs out with a groan.

“Jackson?” Allison asked, putting the groceries away with practiced ease. They had grown into a solid routine in the last two and a half years of living together.

As much as Stiles valued his privacy, he was eternally grateful to have Allison with him, especially on the – thankfully rare – occasion that he had a residual nightmare or panic attack.

Stiles nodded. “They’re trying to figure out who’s going to carry the baby.”

Allison frowned. “I thought Lydia didn’t want to?”

“Yeah,” Stiles sighed, picking up his feet momentarily while Allison sat down before plopping them back down onto her lap. “But now that she’s set to graduate next semester instead of next year like the rest of us, she’s reconsidering her timeline.”

“You going to talk it through with them tomorrow?”

“Yup. In the meantime, want to procrastinate with me?” Stiles asked hopefully.

Allison fixed him with a serious expression before smiling. “Always.”

Stiles turned on the TV while Allison grabbed a blanket. They reclined with their heads on opposite ends of the couch, letting their legs tangle together under the blanket. 

Which is exactly how their friend found them an hour later when he barged into the apartment without knocking.

Not bothering to look away from the TV, Stiles admonished him. “Ryan, what did I say about knocking?”

“Always knock unless you brought Stiles and Allison pizza,” he recited dutifully, plopping onto the floor by Allison’s head.

“And did you bring pizza?” Stiles asked him through a yawn.

“I did,” Ryan responded cockily. He set the pizza down on the coffee table in front of them and grabbed a slice.

Allison chuckled as she took in the warring emotions on Stiles’ face. He was clearly tempted by the pizza, but didn’t want to move from his blanket cocoon. 

She took the decision out of his hands by stuffing a slice into his mouth. 

“I love you, Ally, seriously,” he managed around the pizza he had just taken a bite of.

They stayed like that for another hour, until Stiles’ phone rang. Allison and Ryan shooed him away, so he stepped outside to take the call.

“Derek,” Stiles smiled as he answered.

“Hey,” Stiles could hear the grin in Derek’s response. “You and Ally still set to come up on Friday for Ana’s birthday?”

“Of course,” Stiles confirmed. “How’s everything on the home front? Sorry we couldn’t make it back last weekend – Junior year’s proving to be a lot harder than Sophomore year,” he groaned.

Derek hummed and filled Stiles in on what he missed, which wasn’t much. 

Boyd and Erica were still working out wedding plans, Isaac was pissed because Peter gave him a B on a paper, Keith had called to let Derek know he was going to be staying in Seattle with Kira and Malia for another year, and Talia was settling in nicely at her new job as Hospital Administrator at Beacon Hills Memorial.

“Is Wallace still pretending he’s not dating Beatrice?” Stiles asked wryly.

Derek huffed. “At least they’re more subtle than Daniel and Liz. I mean seriously, it’s like they forget we’re werewolves with the number of times we’ve almost caught them…”

“How’s Laura doing? Still not letting anyone else touch the baby?”

“She’s good,” Derek laughed. “I swear she sends a new picture every time she changes Robert’s clothes. Grady’s going back to work next week, though, which your dad’s happy about.”

Stiles closed his eyes and sat on the curb, letting Derek’s voice wash over him.

When they hung up twenty minutes later, Stiles rushed inside to update Allison.

Ryan left shortly after, and Allison and Stiles resigned themselves to doing homework for the rest of the night. The reminder of everything that was waiting for them back home kicked them into high gear.

Stiles felt a whoosh of magic as they crossed the boundary into Beacon Hills a few days later. He smiled as he felt the wards welcoming him home.

They had barely parked in the Hale house driveway before Allison’s door was being pulled open by Scott. Stiles left the pair to reunite after two whole weeks apart, and looked up to find his own wolf in the doorway. 

Stiles ran up the porch steps and flung himself into Derek’s arms, wrapping his legs around the man’s waist tightly.

He heard laughter from the living room at the display, but the only thing he was concerned with was the feeling of Derek’s lips against his own.

Grumbling through his wide grin, Stiles broke the kiss and let himself down, eyes searching the main floor for any sign of Ana. 

“Where’s the birthday girl?” He asked while greeting the rest of the pack with hugs and cheek kisses.

Derek shut the door on Scott and Allison, who were still groping each other in the driveway. “Wallace just called to say they’re on their way now.”

Stiles plopped down onto a couch, stretching and groaning loudly. Derek followed and picked up Stiles’ feet, removing his socks and shoes and massaging the soles lightly.

“Oh my god that feels amazing,” Stiles moaned, letting his eyes slip closed.

“Get a room,” Erica crooned, a little hypocritically given that she was nearly on top of Boyd.

“Seriously, Der, that feels awesome.”

Derek grinned at the praise and pressed his thumb into the middle of Stiles’ heel.

“Marry me,” Stiles exclaimed. 

Derek huffed a laugh and gripped Stiles’ ankle with his left hand. “I’m pretty sure I already agreed to that one,” he retorted, tapping his ring finger against Stiles’ skin, grinning when the cool metal of his engagement ring made Stiles jump.

Stiles opened his eyes and grinned dopily at his fiancé. 

The door chose that moment to fly open. Stiles couldn’t bring himself to be annoyed at the interruption once he saw who had opened it.

“Stiles! Stiles!” Ana cried, running into the living room. 

Stiles stood up just in time to be almost bowled over by the force of Ana’s hug. “Hi, sweetie! How’s my favorite nine year old?”

Ana smiled and whipped her head around to look for presents, as if Stiles’ question had just reminded her that it was her birthday. 

She spotted them on a table by the kitchen but frowned when her excited approach was halted by her backpack. She looked up to find Derek with his claw holding the strap so she would stay in place.

“But, Papa,” she whined, fixing him with her most lethal puppy dog eyes. 

“Not yet, munchkin. We have to wait for everyone to get here – and no levitating!” He added when he noticed Ana’s hands behind her back. 

The present she had been casting on dropped out of the air and would have crashed to the floor had it not been for Stiles catching it with his own magic and levitating it back to its rightful place on the table.

Stiles muffled his laugh and ruffled Ana’s hair before running back out to the car to grab his overnight bag.

Peter arrived a few minutes later with his and Dom’s one year old, Rebecca, in his arms. As soon as they crossed the threshold, Derek’s nose wrinkled. 

“Yeah, I know, this little one needs a diaper change,” Peter cooed, not taking his eyes off of his daughter.

“I got it!” Chris offered immediately, hopping off the couch and holding out his hands eagerly for the baby. The sight of Chris making grabby hands would forever haunt Stiles’ dreams, but he smiled begrudgingly at how excited the man was.

Peter chuckled and handed Rebecca and the diaper bag over to Chris, leaving the man to it.

Once Chris had disappeared into the library, Peter rounded on Scott and Allison. “You two need to get that man a grandchild, asap.”

“We’re working on it,” Allison promised, grinning. At the declaration, Scott’s eyes went wide and he all but jumped on Allison, peppering her face with kisses. He displaced cat Jackson in the process, earning him an annoyed look and a low growl from the kitty. 

“Oh, I don’t know,” said Dom, greeting Peter with a kiss. “It’s kind of nice having someone who actually volunteers to change diapers. And he and Madeline have never said no when we need a babysitter.”

Laura and Grady arrived with Robert shortly after Melissa and Talia had come home from their shifts at the hospital.

Derek took a fussy Robert from Laura’s arms and flashed his eyes at him before nuzzling the baby’s head. 

“Baby werewolves need a different kind of contact with their Alphas than human babies,” he explained to Stiles’ confused eyebrows.

Stiles smiled and rubbed his hand over Robert’s head softly.

The sight of Derek holding a baby was far too distracting, so he left to join his parents in the kitchen. His mom was putting the finishing touches on the birthday cake while his dad set out the disposable plates and forks.

Ana ran upstairs to Skype with Kira, Malia, and Keith for a few minutes before they cut the cake.

Once the cake had been eaten and all the presents had been unwrapped, Stiles settled onto the couch with Derek and Ana.

The rest of the pack had either gone up to bed, or had gone home. Ana had special permission to stay up late just the one night since it was her birthday.

Ana was sitting on Stiles’ left, fidgeting nervously. Derek was on Stiles’ right and wasn’t faring much better in the fidgeting department.

“What’s going on?” He asked them both curiously.

They looked at each other across Stiles. Ana nodded, prompting Derek to smile and reach behind the couch for a party bag Stiles hadn’t seen earlier.

“Another present for Ana?” Stiles smiled, still confused.

Ana shook her head. “Uh-uh. For you.”

“Ooh, I’m getting a present on your birthday?” He asked, poking Ana’s side and causing her to giggle.

Derek licked his lips and passed the bag to Stiles, fighting to keep his face impassive.

Stiles squinted at him momentarily before his curiosity got the better of him. He opened the bag and pulled out a thick, legal sized envelope.

He opened the envelope and peered inside to find several documents. He grabbed them and pulled them out, setting the envelope and bag aside.

After scanning the first few lines, Stiles’ eyesight grew blurry with tears. 

“Derek,” he managed to choke out. Stiles’ head whipped from Derek to Ana, and back again, not knowing who to focus on.

“These – these are…”

Derek nodded, biting his lip.

Stiles turned fully towards Ana, letting the papers fall to his lap. He fixed her with a serious, but hopeful, stare. “You want me to adopt you?”

Her immediate response of, “Yes, please,” was so earnest, Stiles couldn’t help but pull her to her feet and engulf her in a fierce hug. 

The tears were flowing freely down his face as he crouched so they were eye-to-eye. “I would love to.”

Ana giggled and looked over to Derek in an invitation for him to join them. 

Derek looked as if all the air had been punched out of his lungs. 

“I know how you feel,” Stiles told him dryly, standing up to full height. “Now get up here and hug our daughter with me.” The last two words were barely comprehensible, given the ecstatic giggle that had escaped his lips after saying the words, ‘our daughter.’

Derek stood up in one sweeping motion and the three embraced happily for several tearful minutes.

When they separated, Stiles wiped his eyes and grinned at Ana. “Would you be so kind as to get me a pen, my dear?”

Ana smiled and waved her hand in the direction of the library. The pen came sailing into the living room, but stopped just short of them.

Ana looked confused until she noticed that Stiles’ hand was waving as well. They giggled as their magic warred over the pen, only coming to an end when Ana whined in amusement, “Daaaaad.”

Stiles was struck dumb by the endearment, letting his magic go and getting a pen to the cheek as a result. 

Ana laughed and looked up at Derek, pleased that she had won. Derek ran his hand over her hair and smiled down at her proudly. 

Stiles had just finished signing the papers when he felt one of the perimeter wards tug at his spark. Isaac had let him know earlier that Pahn had some friends coming into the territory, so he looked further into the ward and confirmed that it was them who had triggered it.

He rolled his eyes fondly at the interruption.

Of course it’s fairies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finished!!! 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who stuck with me during all of my crazy updates! I really intended for the first installment to only be about 10k words, but the positive responses and constructive feedback and requests for a sequel were just so overwhelmingly wonderful!
> 
> <3


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